Mysterious ways
by Red Shoe Kitty
Summary: Sometimes the universe just likes to mess with you, sometimes in a good way but sometimes...not so much. Not cannon
1. Chapter 1

Jack Harkness sat on the edge of his bed in an anonymous London hotel and watched the battery of his mobile phone die. As the last bar of the battery life indicator disappeared and the phone screen faded to black he let out a huge sigh of relief and threw himself back onto the bed – he was free. Ok, it was only for four days but for the first time in eight months he was completely untraceable; no messages asking him where he was and what he was doing, no phone calls demanding to know what time he would be back and no constant barrage of cutesy pictures of kittens that, apparently, loved him "this much". The thought that no-one knew exactly where he was made him feel as if a huge weight had been lifted from his chest and he threw out his arms and laughed, properly, genuinely and loudly for this first time since...since...since he had thrown away Ianto.

Jack stopped laughing, rolled to his feet and fumbled in the bag he had dumped at the foot of the bed. He pulled out the bottle of 25 year old Lagavulin that Ianto had bought him. Jack smiled as he remembered finding the whisky on his desk after a particularly difficult week with a card that said, 'just because I wanted to, OK?' It had made him realise how well Ianto knew him if he had known that Jack's first reaction to the gift would have been 'why did you buy me this?' It was a shame, Jack ruminated as he sipped the smooth drink relishing the after burn in his throat, that he hadn't also realised how very dear Ianto had become to him at that point.

Jack moved over to the soft armchair by the window and, placing the bottle and his glass on the small table, sat down staring sightlessly at the rain beating against the pane. _My own fault_ he told himself miserably, _it was all my own fault. _He began to recount the incident in his head, telling himself the story as if he hadn't lived through it. _It all started, _he thought, _with that damn pool tournament of Tosh's..._

* * *

**Eight months earlier; Cardiff**

'Right' said Jack, 'any other business?' He looked around the table, Gwen, Owen and Ianto shook their heads but Tosh hesitantly raised a hand. Jack blinked in surprise; it was most unusual for the quiet computer expert to speak to anything other than agenda items, 'Tosh?'

'Erm. Owen and I, well, I, really... I was thinking that it might be fun if we had a team night out, maybe go to a local pub and have a pool tournament'

'That's a great idea,' Gwen jumped in before anyone else could speak, 'four of us, that's two teams – me and Jack against you and Owen. Whaddya say Jack?'

Jack frowned, 'There are FIVE of us Gwen, what about...'

Ianto interrupted, 'You'd better count me out' he said, 'I'm pretty much banned from playing pool in most city centre pubs anyway.'

Jack raised an eyebrow, 'misspent youth, Mr. Jones?'

Ianto grinned, 'let me put it this way Jack, the fees for my degree were around £3,000 a year and every year I paid them out of my pool winnings.'

Owen let out a low whistle, 'wow that's impressive, Teaboy'

Ianto ducked his head self-deprecatingly, 'it's all about angles and trajectories and how you handle long wood' he smiled innocently and Jack choked on the last of his coffee.

Gwen cleared her throat, the conversation was getting away from her and she didn't like that, 'so,' she paused significantly until Jack had dragged his eyes from Ianto's smiling mouth and focussed his attention back on her where it belonged, 'a Torchwood pool contest, me and Jack against Tosh and Owen, when do we want to do this? Rhys is out of town until tomorrow evening, so, actually, tonight would be great for me.'

'Why not tonight then' suggested Owen

'Works for me' said Tosh

Jack looked across the table, 'Ianto?' he said

'Ianto shook his head, 'I can't tonight, I have something to do' he said

Jack raised an eyebrow, 'yeah? What?'

Ianto blushed and refused to meet Jack's curious gaze, 'just something' he said evasively, 'something I can't put off'

Ok, we'll pick another night then' said Jack to a general chorus of dissent from the rest of the team.

Gwen placed her hand on Jack's shoulder, 'C'mon Jack' she purred, stroking him gently through his shirt, 'we all need to wind down after the last few days. Ianto isn't even going to play so it's not like we need him with us.'

Jack looked at Ianto who was sitting impassively watching Gwen, Jack could see the brief spasm of hurt that flashed in his lover's eyes at Gwen's thoughtless words but as soon as he had recognised it, it was gone.

Ianto got to his feet and began to collect the mugs and plates for washing onto a tray, 'you go,' he said with a smile that didn't quite make it to his eyes, 'as Gwen said, you don't need me but you do all need a night out, so...go, enjoy yourselves'

Tosh shifted uncomfortably in her seat, _damn Gwen Cooper_ she thought to herself_, this was my idea and now she's trying to take over; she just sees this as an excuse to make a move on Jack, _(Tosh sternly silenced the little voice in her head that pointed out that she had come with the idea as a way to get closer to Owen) _this whole evening is going to be spoilt_. 'It won't be fun without you Ianto' she said softly, 'please come'

'Yeah' Owen spoke up unexpectedly, the last person Tosh expected support from 'if you come Jack will spend the whole evening wiggling his arse at you and Tosh and I might actually win'

Ianto gave them both a genuine smile, 'I would love to' he said, 'but I really can't'

Jack wasn't happy, 'what is it you are doing that is more important than watching my arse' he demanded petulantly

Ianto's smile faded, 'something personal, Jack. Something important to me, OK?' and he picked up his tray and left the room.

* * *

**Present day; London**

Jack took another healthy swig of the whisky; _I should have pushed it,_ he told himself sadly_, if I had known what he was up to that night it wouldn't have been so easy for Gwen to convince me Ianto was cheating on me. _He sighed heavily, _that's crap, I should have trusted Ianto the way he trusted me. I should have trusted how much we loved each other._

* * *

**Eight months earlier; Cardiff**

Jack and Gwen fell out of the pub laughing hysterically, followed by Tosh and Owen who somehow seemed to be holding hands. All of them had drunk more than was usual for them.

'He would have been OK if you hadn't been so rude to him, Jack' Gwen was scolding

Jack hiccupped, 'how is asking someone if he would like to suck my ball after it had been in his pint rude? It seems unnecessarily courteous to me'

'I don't understand how the cue ball ended up in his glass anyway' chipped in Owen

'Would you believe...trick shot?' asked Jack, hopefully

'Not for a moment' replied Owen

'Well, I don't care, it won us the tournament' chuckled Toshiko

'How much do we owe you?' gasped Jack, trying to control his giggles.

Owen smirked, 'well once the tally got to 200 quid we negotiated tomorrow off instead.'

Jack frowned, 'really? You beat us soundly and all you both want is the day off.'

Tosh spoke up, 'starting from now, Jack. You and Gwen take out rift watch tonight, we have tomorrow off and you do your own night shift tomorrow night. We think we got a good deal.'

Gwen had managed to flag down a taxi, which Owen neatly slipped into, 'C'mon Tosh' he called out 'night's still young, come back to mine and I'll cook you Dr Owen Harper's patented hang over prevention fry up.' Tosh got into the cab with alacrity and cast an incandescent smile in Jack's direction. Jack, who had understood the rationale for the pool tournament all along, gave her a sweet and loving smile in return and mouthed the words 'have fun' at her.

Gwen linked her arm through Jack's 'well Captain, Harkness, ' she murmured, 'looks like it just you, me and the rift for the rest of the night.'

They strolled together towards the plas and Jack gave a heavy sigh.

'I wonder what Ianto is doing' he said

Gwen allowed a ripple of irritation to cross her face, 'I wonder WHO he is doing' she said spitefully.

Jack turned to face her,' he wouldn't' he stated confidently

Gwen raised an eyebrow, 'really? Did he tell you what he was up to tonight, did you get to find out what was so important to him that he couldn't come out with us, even when you made it clear that you wanted him to?' Jack looked at her, uncertainly, Gwen fought to keep the excitement and triumph out of her voice, she had never seen Jack so apprehensive 'have you two ever talked about being exclusive?'

'Well, no' stammered Jack, 'but I haven't been with anyone else since Ianto and I started dating. Ianto know s that'

Gwen administered her coup-de-grace, 'and do you know that about Ianto? We all know how good he is at keeping secrets, Jack. Maybe this is just one other thing he is hiding from you?'

Jack shook his head stubbornly, 'Ianto wouldn't do that, not to me, not now. I won't believe that Ianto would cheat on me, I'd have to see it with my own eyes'

Gwen laughed; she could not believe what she had just caught sight of over Jack's shoulder. In the brightly illuminated window of one of the bars that lined the quayside, she could see Ianto Jones and he was with company; she caught hold of Jack and turned him so that he could see what she already had noticed.

Ianto was sitting at a table deep in conversation with a stunning young man. Both were leaning across the table talking intently. The young man, really he was almost a boy noted Jack absently, was looking down at the table top and running his hands through his shoulder length blonde curls; he seemed distressed and Ianto reached across and took the young man's hand, brushing his other hand across the boy's cheek. Ianto said something and a small smile blossomed on the face of the blonde boy and he nodded slowly. Ianto smiled back at him and the two men stood and pulled on their coats. Ianto threw a few notes onto the table and turned to leave, one hand resting proprietarily in the curve of the young man's back, just above his arse.

Gwen risked a sideways glance at Jack. He was standing rigidly as if turned to stone, his face impassive. She placed a consoling hand on his arm; his muscles were locked as though he had tetanus. _Sometimes the universe moves in mysterious ways_ she thought triumphantly as she pasted faux-concern onto her face and into her voice, 'oh, Jack' she simpered, 'I am so, so sorry.'

Jack made a visible effort to pull himself together, 'It's nothing, nothing' he whispered, 'just a drink in a pub, that boy, he could be a relative, an old friend, anything.'

Gwen smiled as Ianto and the young man emerged into the Cardiff night, the blonde boy hugged Ianto tightly and pulled him down into a kiss. When they broke apart Ianto was smiling, he moved in close and said something in a low voice which made the younger man laugh out loud, together they headed away from the quay. 'Doesn't look much like a "just a friend" to me 'she murmured, 'but at least we know why he didn't want to come out with us tonight, guess he really did have something more important to do' Her voice trailed off as Jack spun on his heel and strode off towards the invisible lift. Gwen ran after him, 'Jack? Jack?' As she joined him on the paving stone, Jack grasped her firmly by the shoulders and looked into her face intently.

Gwen squirmed, 'Jack? You are starting to hurt me' she wriggled under his hands and smiled seductively, 'you don't have to be rough, unless you want to be...'

Jack ran a hand over her face, watching her eyes flutter closed and noting how she leant into his touch. He murmured 'ok; right, then,' pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her, hard.

Gwen gasped, it was as if all her daydreams and fantasies were coming true at once, she wound her arms around him, 'Jack?' she said softly

'No talking' growled Jack, 'no thinking, just doing' and as Jack plundered her mouth a second time the only thought in Gwen's head was _I've won, I've won_.

She did not have long to savour her triumph, since as soon as the lift reached the floor of the Hub Jack pushed her against the nearest wall, separated her from most of her clothes and thrust into her, sobbing and biting and kissing her. His finger drew trails of electricity on her over heated skin, god his lips were so soft, and his fingers teased her alongside his cock until she came with a loud scream.

'Oh God, oh god, Jack' Gwen was babbling in her pleasure, clinging to him possessively 'we are so good together, I knew we would be. That was intense, it was wonderful, it was...'

'Quite a show' Ianto's voice came quietly from the shadows.


	2. Chapter 2

**Present day; London**

Jack rested his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes. He had never lost an erection as fast as he had when Ianto's voice had whispered through the hub. _Typical_ _of Gwen,_ he thought, _to be so immersed in her own pleasure that she hadn't even noticed that I hadn't come_. He remembered that he had almost shoved Gwen away and taken a step towards Ianto before recalling what he had seen on the plas, before remembering that he and Ianto were, to all intents and purposes, no longer together. Guilt and pain had made his voice harsh and belligerent, and if he was honest, he had wanted to hurt Ianto as much as he could.

* * *

**Eight months earlier; Cardiff**

'You shouldn't be here'

'Clearly'

'Won't your little...friend... wonder where you've got to?'

Ianto paled, 'You saw us?'

Gwen chipped in, 'not like you to go in for such public displays of affection. I'm surprised you didn't just fuck him into the table'

Ianto ignored her, his eyes fixed on Jack, 'who was he?' said Jack numbly

'No-one you need to know about' replied Ianto

Jack suddenly seemed to come to life, 'no-one I need to know about? No-one I need to know about?' he yelled, 'My boyfriend is eye fucking some little tart in a local pub but I shouldn't be upset because he's no-one I need to know about? How many other people do I "not need to know about" Ianto?'

Gwen wrapped herself tightly around Jack and smiled jubilantly at Ianto, who suddenly seemed to be noticing her for the first time, 'You' he snarled, 'I know this situation is down to you somehow.'

Gwen snorted derisively, I'm not the one cheating on Jack' she said smoothly

'No, just Rhys,' snapped Ianto, 'I was having a drink with a friend, how is that cheating?' he turned his attention back to Jack, 'I wasn't one buried balls deep in this slut'

'I saw the kiss, Ianto' said Jack heavily

Ianto gave a laugh that somehow turned into a sob. 'then you saw him kiss me' he said. 'Gods, I really did not want to have to do this, Jack. You know how I go out every Wednesday night?' Jack looked blank, Ianto gave another bitter little laugh, 'no, it never registered with you did it. I only register with you when you have your cock in my arse, don't I?' Jack shook his head in denial as Ianto continued, 'Every Wednesday I volunteer at the Cardiff Outhouse, it's a social support centre for gay teens and adolescents, I work on their helpline. I know what it's like to be confused about your sexuality and have no-one to talk to who understands. Aidan, the boy you saw me with tonight, I've been talking with him for a while now, he came out to his parents yesterday afternoon and they have thrown him out of his home. Outhouse has arranged accommodation for him and I met him to give him the keys to his new flat. I've sorted out a job for him in my sister's bookshop with flexible hours that he can work around his degree course. He kissed me because he was grateful, that's all. He has a boyfriend, Jack. I got Aidan a cab and came straight back here because I wanted to be with you. I don't want Aidan and he doesn't want me; he is in a committed relationship, the kind I wish we...' his voice trailed away and he looked at Gwen's hand moving under Jack's shirt fondling his nipples.

Jack seemed oblivious to Gwen's manipulations, 'I...I didn't know' he said softly

'And you didn't wait to find out, did you, Jack' asked Ianto sadly, 'you immediately thought the worst of me and wasted no time fucking Gwen. I hoped I meant more to you than that but I guess I was fooling myself like I fooled myself about so many things where you were concerned.'

Silence filled the hub as Ianto and Jack stood gazing at one another. Finally, Gwen spoke up, 'Just go, Ianto. Walk away while you still have some dignity. Jack has obviously made his choice and you're not it.'

Ianto looked at Jack, 'is that what you want Jack? Me to leave? Us to be over? Do you want Gwen now?'

Jack made no move, no sound. He simple stood looking at Ianto as if he was desperate to commit his features to memory for all time. Gwen was kissing and licking his neck and watching Ianto with a challenging stare.

'Nothing to say, Jack?' asked Ianto, 'are we not worth fighting for?'

Jack opened his mouth to respond but then gave a surprised squeak as Gwen insinuated her hand inside his pants and ran her finger over the head of his cock.'

Ianto turned and walked out of the Hub. It nearly killed him but he didn't look back.

* * *

**Present day; London**

Jack roughly wiped his eyes and poured himself another drink. Ianto had gone from his life at that moment. His flat was empty for two weeks – Jack knew because he had been going there twice a day in the hopes of talking to Ianto to try to sort things out, but the flat remained deserted. Then on the fifteenth day Jack went to the flat to find it not only empty but emptied. All of Ianto's furniture and belongings had gone. Jack had never seen him again.

With a sigh, Jack closed his eyes, everything had happened so quickly. Owen and Tosh had tentatively started a relationship and, although he was thrilled for them both, watching them fall in love, doing the silly loving things that people do for each other in the early stages of romance was a unique kind of torture for him; and then there was Gwen...

'Bloody Gwen Cooper' said Jack aloud

Gwen had wasted no time ditching Rhys or telling the rest of the Torchwood team what had transpired. _She engineered the end of two sets of solid relationships_, thought Jack, _me and Yan and her and Rhys. _He thumped his fist down on the table, hard enough to bruise, _why do I fall for her manipulation every time, why do I let her get away with trying to control everyone around her for her own satisfaction. _He shrugged, _maybe we both have a blind spot where the other is concerned, she sees me as the big hero and never even tries to see beyond that to the man I really am and I only seem to see the sweet caring woman and don't acknowledge the driven, infatuated control freak behind that facade._

Really, the only person Jack would have had any sensible advice from was Tosh, he recognised that. She was probably Ianto's closet friend but not only was she pretty obsessed with Owen at the time, she had made it very clear that, although she blamed both Jack and Ianto for their break up, the largest proportion of her ire was reserved for Jack_. _So Jack, lonely, confused, miserable and floundering in a bog of self recrimination and guilt had allowed himself to sleep walk/be frog marched into a relationship with the woman who had removed the joy from his heart; less than a month after Ianto had left him Gwen had moved them both into a quayside apartment, Jack still wasn't sure how that had happened.

Jack kicked off his boots and rested his feet on the window sill; he luxuriated in the silence for a while. _The thing about Gwen_, he mused _is she never, never shuts up. _ He smiled as he remembered another rainy day, in Ianto's flat where he had spent the afternoon re-watching one of his favourite films, 'The Battle of Britain,' whilst Ianto had curled into his side and re-read 'The Hobbit'. They had spent over two hours in total silence and, Jack realised, he had never felt more loved or more at peace than in that time.

At one point, Jack had stirred,

'My gracious silence,' he murmured, 'who called his partner that?'

Ianto looked up from his book 'Coriolanus'

Jack placed a fervent kiss onto Ianto's brow, '_**my**_ gracious silence'

Ianto had simply smiled and snuggled closer to Jack's side.

Jack compared that episode, one of his most treasured and shining memories of his time with Ianto with the constant litany of questions, demands for reassurance and general whining that formed the backing track to his life with Gwen. For the first six months Jack had been numb from his loss, quietly acquiescent to all of the demands that Gwen imposed upon him figuring that if he tried hard enough, faked it hard enough, something... bearable, not good, that would be too much to hope for, but bearable, would come from this horrible, horrible mess. Then, just the other weekend when the inclement weather and an usually quiet rift had kept them both in their apartment for the whole two days and Gwen's constant chatter had driven him nearly insane, he had come to a decision; he had decided that he couldn't take it anymore, invented a high security meeting, left his phone charger accidentally-on-purpose under the bed, told Tosh how to contact him via his wrist strap if the world was ending, sworn her to secrecy and fled.

Now he was alone in London, with time to process what had happened and to plan his next move, but first there was something he needed desperately to do. He needed to find himself a gorgeous young man to fuck, he had missed both the tight heat of the male arse clenching around his cock and the sweet burn as someone entered him. He had missed the hard muscle and angular planes of a male lover, he had missed uncomplicated fucking. A gust of wind sent a hard spatter of rain against the large window and Jack shivered, it was not a night for clubbing nor, no matter how tempting, a night for rough encounters against walls in anonymous alleyways; his room was warm, the shower generous enough for two and the bed massive. Jack enjoyed the hunt but he also appreciated his comforts and tonight was definitely a night for comfort. Fortunately he still had useful contacts in this town, he uncurled himself from the chair and padded across the thick carpet to the bed, punching nine for an outside line he paused, retrieved a phone number from his memory and dialled

'Hello?'

Jack felt a wide smile spread itself across his face, it felt like the first one for over half a year, 'Sylvie? Jack Harkness'

'Captain Harkness, how delightful to hear your voice. It has been far too long. How have you been?'

'Good Sylvie I've been good, then, recently...not so good; but I'm in town for the next four days and I would really like some company.'

'Well, I am sure we can accommodate you Captain' said Sylvie, 'what did you have in mind?'

'Male, early to mid-twenties, dark, curly hair, Welsh if possible.' Jack rattled of his requirements.

Sylvie laughed, 'that's very specific, Jack'

Jack put a smile in his voice, 'you have never let me down before, Sylvie.' He could her Sylvie tapping on her key board

'And I won't tonight' Jack could hear deep satisfaction in her tone, 'I have just the companion for you. His name is Jack, one of our most sought after companions. I have him registered as available tonight, I'll need to text him to offer him the liaison but if he accepts than he can be with you within an hour.'

'Sounds wonderful' said Jack

'What name do you want to use Captain?'

Jack hesitated, 'Yan' he replied, 'he can call me Yan.'

'Very well,' said Sylvie, 'give me your contact number and the address of your hotel and I'll call you back in ten minutes.'

'Thanks, Sylvie' said Jack appreciatively

'No problem Captain, I assume the usual billing arrangements will apply?'

'Please'

'I'll be in touch' Sylvie ended the call.

Jack drained his glass, hastily unpacked his clothes and was just eyeing the whisky bottle the when the phone next to his bed trilled loudly. He threw himself across the bed and snatched up the receiver

'Captain Harkness?' it was Sylvie, 'Jack has accepted the liaison, he will be with you in half an hour. Is that acceptable?'

'Very acceptable, thank you Sylvie'

Sylvie hesitated then said, 'Jack, please look after yourself, you are too special to be unhappy.'

Jack could feel tears prickling under his eyelids, 'I'll try, Sylvie, thank you'

He hung up the phone and glanced at the bedside clock, twenty five minutes before his "company" arrived. Stripping off his clothes and humming a little Glen Miller, Jack headed off to shower.

* * *

Jack always enjoyed a shower, either alone or with company; it always felt like a safe space to him. For the first time in a long time not only was he alone, no Gwen groping him or demanding to know how much he loved her. He closed his eyes, if Ianto had been with him he would have pressed himself against Jack's back, moulding their bodies together, sliding his hands over Jack's chest, teasing him with his finger tips and his tongue. Jack groaned as his hand drifted down to fondle his balls, they felt hard and tight, god he was so close. He wasn't going to drag this out, "Jack" would be arriving soon and all he wanted to do at this moment was take the edge off his curling desire so that he didn't embarrass himself by coming all over the man's shoes the moment he walked through the door. Jack rubbed himself hard, spraying against the tiled wall of the shower cubicle crying out Ianto's name as he always did.

Jack wrapped a towel around his waist and towelling his hair headed back into his bedroom just a soft knock sounded at the door. Dumping the towel he had been drying his hair with back into the bathroom and combing his fingers through his hair Jack put his eye to the peephole. His companion for the evening had his back to the door, surveying the corridor. Jack's heart jolted; the guy's hair was thick, dark and curly falling to just below the nape of his neck, his shoulders were broad and, from what Jack could see through the distorting lens of the peephole, his arse was spectacular. Jack grinned and opened the door.

'You must be Jack' he purred

'and you must be Yan' the young man turned round and Jack saw his face clearly for the first time.

'Ianto?'

'Jack?'


	3. Chapter 3

For almost a full minute the two men stood in silence staring at each other. Jack was drinking in the sight of the man that he still loved beyond anyone and everyone. In the eight months since they had last seen each other, Ianto had allowed his hair to grow, making him look younger and even more gorgeous in Jack's opinion. He was dressed in skin right black jeans and, oh, the red Ralph Lauren tee-shirt Jack had bought him for last Valentine's Day. _He looks so beautiful_ thought Jack_, but cautious, wary like he is afraid to trust anyone, oh gods – could that be because of me?_

Shocked, Ianto stared at the man who had purchased his company for the night; _he looks thinner_ _and sadder_ he thought_, and there's a loss and hurt in his eyes that wasn't there before, oh god – is that my fault?_

The silence between the two men stretched on until Ianto shifted his stance slightly. _Oh sweet goddess_, panicked Jack, _he's gonna run_ and without a second thought he reached out, grabbed the front of Ianto's tee shirt and pulled him into the hotel room slamming the door behind him. Still holding onto the fabric of the tee shirt Jack spun Ianto against the wall and crushed their lips together in a passionate and need filled kiss. The tiny part of his brain that was still functioning cheered as Ianto returned the kiss with equal fervour, forcing his tongue into Jack's mouth to battle for supremacy. Somehow Ianto had managed to separate Jack from his towel and the feeling of those familiar and longed for hands running cool and sure over his heated skin pulled Jack back to the present; 'one of us is wearing too much' he growled, tugging Ianto's tee shirt over his head and fumbling with the zip on his jeans. Ianto laughed and pulled away from the kiss to help Jack as he stripped him of his clothes, 'let's rectify that shall we, Sir?' the honorific only serving to make Jack harder.

Panting and fighting for some semblance of control, Jack drew back to rest his forehead on Ianto's.

'Yan?' he exhaled heavily, 'Gods, Yan, is it really you?'

Ianto laughed and ran his fingers over the curve of Jack arse, 'could ask you the same thing' he gasped, 'I have missed you so much, eight months and it's not getting any easier...and now here you are. The universe moves in mysterious ways sometimes'

Jack had a million questions, most of which he was scared to articulate,' but...how...'

Ianto slid a finger inside him, deliberately brushing over his prostate to make him groan with pleasure, 'later Jack, later'

* * *

Somehow they made it to the bed tumbling down in a sweaty tangle of limbs, Jack gasped as the tips of his fingers encountered the butt plug that had kept Ianto open and ready for him.

'Mr Jones, you dirty man!'

Ianto silenced him with a kiss 'what do you want Jack?'

'You. In me. Now'

Jack wrapped his legs around Ianto's waist to pull him closer but the young man held back. 'wait! I need to prepare you'

'No, need this. Need you. Please.'

'Your call. The customer is always right.'

Jack froze, unwrapped himself from Ianto and pushed him away, rolling off the bed to sit on the edge with his head in his hands.

'Jack?' Ianto place a tentative hand on the older man's back. Jack shrugged him away

'Is that all I am to you?'

Ianto was confused, 'What?'

'Is that all I am – just tonight's trick? All this passion – is it just another performance for you?'

'No!' Ianto wished he could rip out his tongue, 'no, oh gods Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't think' cautiously, slowly he stroked the soft skin of Jack's back; he paused, choosing his words carefully. 'I regret how things ended between us,' he said softly, placing gentle kisses on Jacks flesh, 'I ran away too far and too soon, but the longer I was away, the harder it was to come back. Rhiannon told me that you had hooked up with Gwen and then I heard about the baby and I figured that she was the one you really wanted.'

Jack frowned, Rhiannon? What has she got to do with it? And...what baby'

Ianto rested his cheek against Jack's shoulder, Jack could feel his smile, it felt sad 'Although you wouldn't think it to look at him, David, my nephew is a real chess whizz. Tosh tutors at his chess club, she told Rhi that you and Gwen were a couple almost as soon as I left. Then about five months ago Rhiannon said Gwen was in her book shop buying books about pregnancy and baby care, she told the girl who served her that she was six weeks pregnant'

Jack shook his head, 'Gwen isn't pregnant' he said and then he paused, 'The fucking bitch, she must have known it would get back to you, she did it to make sure you stayed away from me!'

'Can't be that secure in your so-called relationship then, can she?' asked Ianto smugly 'even though you didn't waste any time moving her in to your bed.'

Jack shifted uncomfortably, 'Honestly, Yan I don't know how that happened. When I lost you, it was as if everything was happening behind a thick curtain or to someone else, like it was all going on around me without my participation. You were gone and she was there and so insistent and I was...so guilty...so lonely...so I...I' he bowed his head and ran his fingers through his hair fighting to control himself.

'Oh Jack,' Ianto scrambled from the bed and knelt between Jack's legs, 'I'm sorry.'

Jack's sniffed, 'I was the one who fucked Gwen' he said sadly, 'I was the one who ruined what we had.'

'No' Ianto spoke firmly, 'we both fucked up. You made a mistake and I didn't even give you the chance to explain or apologise. We trusted each other with our lives but never managed to trust each other with our love – maybe that should be something we could work on, if...you know...you wanted to.' He looked away, and so missed it as Jack looked up with hope in his eyes, 'although, you probably won't want me now will you?'

Jack gave a small smile, 'how could I not want you?' he asked gently. 'I have never stopped wanting you but...I would like to know why you chose this life, Yan.'

Ianto laughed, 'This isn't my life, Jack. I'm working as an Information Scientist in the library at King's College University. I've had two intense relationships in my life and neither of them ended well, I didn't want to start dating and looking for someone else besides which, two years of being your lover...well let's just say you are an impossible act to follow. But it was hard to go from being shagged senseless every time I passed a flat surface to being celibate. I met Sylvie in a coffee bar; she tried to pick me up, I politely declined, she diagnosed severe sexual frustration, we got chatting and she ended up recruiting me to her escort service on the understanding that I could pick and chose my clients. Being with you has made me quite...innovative, so I was very popular'

'What made you accept me tonight?' asked Jack

Ianto blushed, 'Sylvie broke her own rules, she impressed upon me that tonight's liaison was with her most valued client. When I heard it was you, I couldn't believe my luck.'

Jack smiled, 'Is that why you wore the tee shirt? '

Ianto nodded, 'I knew what seeing me in it did to you' he said

Jack closed his eyes, 'we are so stupid' he murmured, 'eight months of being sad, being lost, fucking the wrong people...' he allowed the sentence to trail off as Ianto cupped his face and sprinkled light kisses over eyes and cheeks

'But we are here now' said Ianto 'and we have tonight and tomorrow if you want it'

Jack laughed, not his usual boisterous bellow but a low soft, satisfied chuckle that only Ianto had ever heard, 'tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time'

'Macbeth' identified Ianto, 'what is it with you and Shakespeare?'

'Jack smiled, 'The Doctor met him, you know, said he was a lot like me, said we would have got on really well – if you know what I mean'

'Jack, in that context, I always know what you mean'

'Hey! I resent that' Jack's petulance was slightly ruined by the large smile threatening to crawl across his face.

With difficulty, Ianto restrained his own smile and managed a pout, 'so...do you think about him when we fuck?'

'The Doctor or Will Shakespeare?'

Ianto growled, then he too burst into laughter as Jack wrapped his arms around him and pulled them both to their feet. Ianto thought he was going to kiss him but instead he held him close, looked deep into his eyes and whispered sincerely, 'No, the only person I think about is you because I love you, only you, always you.'

'Love you too'

Jack chuckled once more and tumbled them both back onto the bed.

* * *

When Ianto woke up the next morning, it was to find himself surrounded by Jack Harkness. Somehow Jack had managed to sprawl on top of Ianto in his sleep, wrapping his arms and his legs around the younger man and clinging on to him as if his life depended upon it. Confined as he was, Ianto doubted he would be able to move to leave the bed but, on consideration decided that that was actually the last thing he wanted to do. He sifted slightly and hastily reassessed that plan; Jack's morning erection was now pressing uncomfortably upon his bladder. Two sleepy blue eyes looked into his own

'Morning,' yawned Jack

Ianto kissed the tip of Jack's perfect nose, 'morning' he replied

Jack ran his tongue across Ianto's mouth, 'do you have anywhere you need to be today?' he murmured nuzzling into his neck

'I'm afraid I have an urgent appointment' said Ianto, smiling as Jack's face fell, 'I absolutely must get up and go to the toilet but once I've done that, I am, if you want me to be, yours for the rest of the day.'

Jack rolled off of him and virtually pushed him out of the bed, 'go on then' he said, 'quicker you go, the quicker you get back.'

Ianto padded across the room to the bathroom; conscious that Jack's eyes were on him every step of the way. He had almost reached the bathroom door when Jack's voice stopped him

'Ianto?'

'Jack?'

'I never stopped loving you, you know.'

Ianto turned to face him, Jack was lying on his stomach, staring at him with a mixture of love and vulnerability in his eyes that Ianto had never seen before; it thrilled him to his core. Ianto smiled sweetly back at him,

'I know, despite everything, I never stopped loving you either. I think that's our strength and our weakness, don't you?'

'Hurry up back to bed and I'll show you how weak my love is, Ianto Jones'

* * *

As Ianto brushed his teeth he surveyed himself in the mirror. His hair was mussed and sleep still lingered a little in his heavily lidded eyes, he mouth was kiss swollen and a large love bite blossomed on his neck. All in all he looked like a man who had been well fucked and he had an air of satisfied anticipation which suggested he expected to be well fucked again in the foreseeable future. Ianto rested his forehead on the cool glass of the mirror trying to sort out his feelings.

_It has been so easy to forgive him_ he mused, _all those months of pain and despair and I see him and *pft*, it's all gone and all I can think about is how gorgeous he is and how right we are together. I should have ignored what Rhi told me about Gwen Cooper and gone back to Cardiff when I first wanted to. I should have fought harder for us. __**We**__ should have fought harder for us. _He banged his head gently against the mirror and looked at his reflection sternly,_ what matters is that we have found each other again, we have a second chance and this time no-one is gonna cheat us out of our happy ending, not me, not Jack and especially not Gwen bloody Cooper. _ Ianto smiled at himself and, filled with a new sense of confidence, stepped back into the bedroom.

Jack was curled miserably on the bed, shaking. Suddenly fearful Ianto ran to his side

'Bloody hell, Jack! I was only gone ten minutes. What happened?'

'Yan, Yan, I don't feel too good' Jack forced the words out from behind chattering teeth

Gently Ianto pushed Jack's fringe away from his cold sweaty forehead, 'Jack?' he stepped hurriedly back as Jack lurched upright grabbing for the bedside bin retching violently before slumping back onto the bed and shivering. Ianto pulled the duvet up and over Jack's shoulders, 'not what I had in mind when I suggested spending the day in bed.' He smiled kissing Jack on the forehead, trying to hide his concern; he was burning up and Ianto was becoming really worried, whatever was wrong with Jack had come on so quickly.

'Come join me?' asked Jack, 'I'm so cold.'

'I will, Cariad' said Ianto reassuringly, 'I just need to make a quick phone call, OK?'

Jack tried to nod by another spasm of chills were wracking though his body.

* * *

Ianto searched for and found his mobile, dialling a number he had never thought to dial again. The call was answered on the second ring and Ianto spoke quickly

'Tosh, soreha, Ianto watashidesu. Watashi no namae o ittehaikenai. Tada kiku' **[Tosh, it's me, Ianto. Don't say my name. Just listen]**

'Ok' Tosh's voice came softly down the line

Ianto switched to English 'I'm with Jack, he's really sick. I need Owen'

Tosh glanced around the Hub, Gwen was nowhere in sight but she knew that did not necessarily mean that she was not listening to her end of the call, the woman was nothing if not sneaky. Speaking slowly because she did not know how rusty Ianto's language skills were these dasy, she continued in Japanese,

'OK I assume you don't want us to know where you are'

'Jack wouldn't want Gwen to find out'

'Are you to back together?'

Ianto's deeply contented sigh reverberated down the phone line, 'I think we might be, yeah'

'But he made us look for you, you were gone...how did he find you?'

A cry of agony echoed over Ianto's reply 'Please Tosh, I don't have time for this. He's really sick'

'Sorry, sorry. Write down the phone number and access code I'm about to give you'

Ianto scrabbled for a pen and noted down the digits as Toshiko recited them, 'What is this?'

'Authorisation and access codes for the Torchwood Helicopter'

Ianto laughed incredulously 'The what now?'

Things have changed a bit since you left us. We got UNIT out of a big pile of shit, I mean a really BIG pile of shit. We kinda own their arses now. So, now we have a Torchwood helicopter and pilot on standby 24/7. I can have Owen with you within the hour

'Thanks Tosh' not wanting to give anything else away, and becoming increasingly worried for his lover, Ianto ended the call and went back to Jack.

* * *

In Cardiff, Tosh slipped her phone back into the pocket of her jacket and beckoned Owen over to her work station.

Take a walk with me' she hissed as Owen raised an eyebrow

'Gwen' Owen raised his voice, Gwen stuck her head out of Jack's office, the state of her hair and the creases on one side of her faces testified that she had been napping on Jack's sofa 'Tosh and I are doing a coffee run, Ok?'

'Whatever. Bring food too'

'Charming isn't she' said Owen, grasping Tosh's arm and steering her towards the invisible lift, 'shall we take the scenic route?'

Once they emerged onto the Plas, Owen turned to her with a quizzical look on his face 'So, what's up Lotus Blossom?'

Tosh punched him on the arm, 'Ianto had just called me'

'Teaboy? What the fuck? What dragged him out of the woodwork after all this time?'

'He sounded stressed, didn't talk for long' said Tosh, 'said he was with Jack but Jack is really sick, Ianto says he neesd you there – fast'

'Jack's sick? Jack's never sick. In what way, sick?'

'I don't know but Ianto was clear he didn't want Gwen to find out where they were. I gave him the access codes for the helicopter; they'll be picking you up in ten minutes'

'Right' Tosh smiled to see Owen transmogrify from scruffy layabout to focused medic, 'I'll go a check my gear. What are we gonna tell Cooper?'

'Nothing. Jack left me in command, I don't have to explain myself to that slut' To her surprise Owen placed a gentle kiss on her lips

'I love stern Tosh'

* * *

Ianto prowled around the hotel bedroom, desperately praying that Dr Owen Harper would arrive soon; in the fifty minutes since he had spoken to Tosh, Jack had graduated from vomiting to experiencing serious abdominal cramps which had necessitated a staggering dash to the bathroom.

'Jack? Sweetheart? Are you OK?'

Slowly the door opened and a pale and shaking Jack slumped against the doorframe. Ianto moved to wrap a supportive around his shoulders. Jack leaned gratefully into the younger man's embrace

'C'mon, let's get you back to bed'

'I'm sorry' mumbled Jack, 'not the kinda reunion I fantasised about for the last eight months'

Ianto kissed him on the forehead, and gently eased him back onto the bed 'let me take care of you, that's all I ask'

'What's wrong with me' Jack's teeth were chattering again, 'I'm never sick'

A barrage of loud knocks sounded on the door, 'oi! Teaboy, open up'

'Think we may be able to find out' said Ianto smiling at Jack reassuringly, 'I believe the medical cavalry have just arrived.'


	4. Chapter 4

Owen pushed his way into the room as soon as Ianto opened the door.

'Jack?' He spotted the pale, miserable figure on the bed, 'Jesus mate, you look like crap!'

'I see your bedside manner has improved in my absence' said Ianto by way of greeting.

'Yeah, yeah, good to see you too, Teaboy' Owen's attention was completely focused on Jack, as he looked into his eyes, took his blood pressure smelled his breath and prepared to draw blood, 'so what's been happening' he snapped

'Chills, fever, vomiting, abdominal cramps' Ianto rattled off the list as Jack lay back on his pillows and groaned

Owen frowned 'If I didn't know better I'd say he's going cold turkey from something' he mused as he pulled out various bits of equipment and skilfully extracted a large syringe full of blood from Jack.

'Cold turkey?' stammered Jack, 'that's ridiculous, I...' Ianto who had been watching him carefully rushed forward with the long suffering waste bin and Jack vomited once more.

Owen was busy unpacking what looked like an entire pathology lab from various bags and rucksacks. He cleared the table top and began plugging in diverse pieces of equipment. He decanted some of Jack's blood into various different receptacles and slotted them into his kit. He reached over and took the bin from Ianto who standing by the bed, stroking Jack's hair and looking helpless and scared. Owen looked inside, pulled a disgusted face and collected some of the blood stained vomitus for testing.

* * *

Ianto moved to the table in order to look over Owen's shoulder. Owen looked at some of his readings, tutted and started a new test running; Ianto gazed fearfully at the busy medic, 'Owen? What's up with him? Owen?'

'Working here, teaboy' snapped Owen

'Oh, ok. Sorry' said Ianto quietly

Owen looked up; Ianto was standing looking very young and vulnerable, tears shining on his lashes. Owen felt like he had just kicked a puppy, gently he took hold of Ianto's shoulders and turned him round to face the bed where Jack was curled in a foetal position, shivering and whimpering.

'At the moment, he needs you as much as he needs me' he said soothingly, 'my job is here with the tech, yours is over there with that man who, despite everything, never stopped grieving for you, never stopped loving you, alright?' Ianto nodded and sniffed, Owen smiled at him, 'good, so I'm going to get on with my job and let you get on with yours, OK?'

Ianto gave him a watery smile and moved with some urgency to the bed, quickly he stripped himself down to his boxers, slid in next to Jack and pulled the suffering man into his arms. Jack sighed and his entire body seemed to relax as Ianto brushed soft kisses over his brow

'Yan'

'Cariad'

* * *

Owen tried to ignore the soft loving murmurs coming from the bed behind him as he concentrated on the readings on his laptop. The biochemistry of Jack's blood looked weird, even weirder than its usual weirdness. He frowned and tapped a few keys screening out the usual 51st century molecules and vortex energy that made Jack's blood so very special. The molecular chain that was left rotating on the screen was one that Owen had never seen before.

'Fuck' muttered Owen, 'someone **has** been drugging him'

Ianto lifted his head from the pillow to stare at him, 'what?'

Even though both men had kept their voices low, Jack stirred and struggled to raise himself up. Ianto immediately sat up in order to support him. Owen unplugged his laptop and took it over to the bed.

'Budge up, Captain. Make room for the medic.'

Ianto rolled his eyes as, sick as he was, Jack managed a weak grin and low, dirty chuckle, 'ooh a threesome. Is it my birthday? Oh...' his face fell, 'am I dying?'

'You make even a bit of a move on Owen and you'll be dying faster than you ever imagined possible' growled Ianto possessively as he pulled Jack closer to his side and scowled theatrically at Owen.

'The pair of you shut up and look,' Owen plonked the computer down on Jack's lap and tapped the screen.

'There is a rogue chemical in your blood Jack, which seems to be degrading and causing some nasty side effects as it does so. I was right; you are going through severe withdrawal. The problem is I don't recognise this...whatever it is, I've never seen it before'

Jack was staring at the screen in horror, 'I have,' he whispered eventually, 'It's PUSH. That fucking bitch Gwen, she's been feeding me PUSH' He began to shake, 'it's PUSH' he said again.

* * *

Ianto pulled him even closer and made eye contact with Owen. His eyes were full of questions but Owen could only shrug helplessly.

'Jack' Ianto slid his finger under Jack's chin so that he could look into his face, 'tell us, please. What is it? How can we help you?'

Jack made a visible effort to pull himself together, Ianto handed him a bottle of chilled water, he took a deep swallow, took a tight hold of Ianto's hand and began to speak.

'Phenyl-uraniate-suxameth-hexethalene, known as PUSH; a synthetic drug created and marketed in around 5037. It's the ultimate compliance drug, put a couple of drops in someone's drink and make the right suggestions and you have a willing and consenting partner for the night, put ten litres of it in a colony's water supply and you have a community that will quite happily wipe themselves out if you ask them politely enough, release enough of it into the atmosphere of a planet and...well you get the picture.'

'Fuck' whispered Owen

'Yeah' agreed Jack. 'It was enough of a problem when it was being used as a date rape drug , the Intergalactic Law Society and the Shadow Proclamation worked for five years just to come up with a new definition of consent that incorporated absence of mind altering drugs, hard to prove rape when PUSH made every victim a willing collaborator with their rapist. That was enough of a scandal but once it was used to initiate planetary self genocide it was clear it had to be eliminated.'

'Banned?' asked Owen

Jack shook his head, 'no eliminated; it was one of my last jobs for the time agency. We went back and killed the parents of everyone associated with its creation so that the developers never even existed, they were never even conceived. It was the first and only time the Agency operated with the total approval of the Time Lords. It was brutal but the end really justified the means'

'So, if it never existed, where has this come from?' asked Ianto

'A 51st century guerrilla fighter crashed through the rift about nine months ago' said Jack, 'It was when you had all those rib fractures and were on sick leave. It must have been lost before the elimination mission. There was a container of PUSH in their weapons store. Gwen made herself responsible for ensuring it went into the secure archives.'

Ianto looked horrified, 'you gave her codes to the secure archives?'

Jack looked shamefaced, 'I changed them the same day' he said defensively

'But Jack…'

'Well if you had been more careful, you would have been there to deal with it yourself'

Ianto sighed in exasperation, they had gone over this so many times; 'I was being careful! No-one deliberately gets sat on by a forty stone Zarutheran…' he began hotly

Owen cleared his throat pointedly, ' any hoo' he said, 'as much fun as it is watching you two argue like an old married couple let's get back to the point, shall we children? Cooper has access to the granddaddy of mind control medication and what? She just waited for you two to have a bit of a spat and made her move?'

'Yeah, I guess so. Fucking evil bitch, no wonder she made us all drink so much that night of the pool tournament. Remember Owen, how she made sure the drinks just kept on coming?' growled Jack, 'First dose works best if given with alcohol, that information was in the archives, she must have found it when she was poking around down there.' Ianto gave a little mew of distress at the thought of Gwen Cooper poking around in his archives and Jack dropped a comforting kiss on his bare shoulder. 'I should have recognised the feeling of disconnect. I told you,' Jack turned eagerly to Ianto again, 'I told you that it felt as if everything was happening behind a thick curtain or to someone else, like it was all going on around me without my participation. I should have suspected PUSH – people who had it administered to them nearly always explained their experiences in those terms. And Gwen...she was so insistent, "let him go", "he never loved you", "we were meant to be together", "move in with me", "you love me". I wanted to fight but I just couldn't everything she said seemed so plausible and so desirable – so right. She must have been using it on me regularly ever since that night to keep me compliant, it's like most drugs the more you take, the more you need. I've been avoiding her as much as possible since last weekend because I was planning this time away and I didn't want her to know about it, plus the rift has been playing up so I have been pretty much living on takeaways and store bought coffee. She mustn't have had the opportunity to drug me as much'

'Is it addictive?' asked Owen

Jack shrugged, 'I don't know. As far as I know no-one has ever been given it on a long term basis.'

'Is there anything that counteracts it?' asked Owen practically, noting that Jack was grimacing and shifting uncomfortably.

Jack huffed a pained laugh, 'easily, on this planet' he gasped, clutching his stomach as another wave of cramp took him, 'it's soluble in ascorbic acid.'

Owen laughed, 'Brilliant! Ianto, did I see a convenience store at the end of the street?'

Ianto frowned at the non sequitur; 'Yeah there's a Tesco Metro on the corner'

Owen pulled a twenty pound note out of the pocket of his jeans, 'go and buy as much high quality orange juice as you can carry.' Ianto still looked blank, Owen sighed, 'Orange juice, full of vitamin C otherwise known as...'

'Ascorbic acid' Ianto snatched the money, leapt from the bed and headed towards the door at speed.

'Oi, Teaboy'

Ianto spun round angrily, 'what? What now?'

'Pants?' suggested Owen, mildly.

* * *

As the door closed behind Ianto, Owen turned to look at the man resting next to him in the bed.

'How long until the juice takes affect?' he said

Jack shrugged, staring blankly down at the bedding and twisting his fingers together 'I don't know. Guess I'll just keep drinking it until I feel OK again'

'Or until your blood chemistry settles down'

'yeah'

Owen looked at Jack with concern, 'You OK mate?' he asked

Jack wriggled uncomfortably, 'It's just...bloody Gwen. I don't get it. What did she think she was doing?'

Owen laughed 'that's obvious isn't it? She was having it all; Ianto hurting and gone, you compliant and hers. She must have thought all her birthdays had come at once.' Jack looked at him in confusion, 'C'mon Jack, it's all she ever wanted from the moment she laid eyes on you. How can you not get that?'

'Yeah I knew she had a hero worship thing going on and I guess I didn't help with the flirting but how could she take me seriously. Didn't she see that I was with Ianto in every sense of the word?'

Owen had the grace to look abashed, 'yeah, well...I think we all underestimated that relationship' he said sadly, 'you both hid it so well, we all thought you were just fucking. I think Tosh was the one with the most insight, she told us about some CCTV footage she had seen of you and the Teaboy in the Hub one night; you were both laying on the sofa and he was resting in your arms. Tosh said she had never seen such love on anyone's face as she saw on yours as you watched him sleep. She said it made her cry to see it'

'I love him' said Jack softly

Owen rested his hand comfortingly on Jack's shoulder 'Yeah I get that now'

The two men sat in silence for a moment then, 'what are you going to do about Cooper?' asked Owen

'I don't know' said Jack, 'I don't want to think about her. Ianto is my priority at the moment. I want him back, I need him back. He is as injured by this as me. Whatever we decide to do with Gwen, we will decide together.' He frowned, and clutched at Owen's arm in a sudden panic, 'where did you tell Gwen you were going? I don't want her to know where I am.'

'No problem' Owen smiled, 'Tosh gave Teaboy the access codes for the Torchwood helicopter – I didn't know where I was going until I got here, Tosh doesn't know where I am at all, although...it's Tosh, I suppose she could probably find me if she really wanted to but Ianto asked her not to so she won't try.'

Jack was resting back on his pillows his face pale, 'Gwen'll give you the third degree when you get back. Owen, if she has access to PUSH she is highly dangerous, she can't be trusted; don't accept any food or drink from her. Keep Tosh safe'

'Don't worry, Captain. I've got it covered' Owen fished a small plastic bag from the pocket of his jeans and held it up before Jack's face.

'Retcon?'

'Yep, just a small dose. I'll take it as I leave here, snooze my way back to Cardiff, lose about half a day and not even remember I was here.'

Jack panic spiked once more, 'but you'll forget about how dangerous Gwen is. Owen I don't want to put you and Tosh at risk.'

'Hmm' Owen looked thoughtful, 'how about you send a top priority text to both Tosh and me warning us about her. Just make sure you don't give too many details, we don't want to trigger my memory. If it's priority one we're unlikely to disregard it. Worst case scenario – it will at least put us on our guard.'

Jack took Owen's hand and squeezed it gratefully 'Thank you Owen'

* * *

The door swung open and Ianto burst into the room.

'Will ten litres be enough' he panted worriedly, 'it was all the stock they had.'

'Should be' said Owen, passing a container to Jack who immediately began swigging from the carton. Eyes rolling Ianto went into the bathroom and returned with a clean glass, which he handed to Jack.

Once Jack had ingested a full litre, Owen took some more blood from him for analysis. After a couple of minutes he glanced up at Jack who was already looking much improved.

'Well?' asked Ianto anxiously from where he was back glued to Jack's side

Owen let out a relieved sigh, 'it's working, the molecular chain is breaking down faster and the ascorbic acid is neutralising the side effects. Another four litres should just about do it.'

Jack groaned, 'I hate oranges'.

* * *

Within an hour Owen was packing up his equipment and carrying out a final physical on a restive Jack.

'I'm fine now' grumbled Jack as Owen checked his blood pressure once more and palpated his abdomen for one last time.

Owen grinned, 'yes, I think you are.' He threw a glance in Ianto's direction, 'better brace yourself Teaboy.' Ianto rolled his eyes, but his heart clearly wasn't in it. His attention was entirely fixated upon Jack. 'Right then' continued Owen, 'I'm off' he sent a short text from his mobile to summon the helicopter, snagged a swallow of Jack's orange juice to wash down his retcon and headed towards the door, 'my ride will be here soon'

Ianto followed the medic to the door and, much to Owen's discomfort, pulled him into a hug 'Thank you for coming' he whispered.

'Just doing my job' said Owen gruffly. But he hugged Ianto back

The moment was broken by Jack's petulant whine floating out from the bedroom behind them.

'Ianto! Come back to bed. All this orange juice is making me horny!'

Owen laughed, 'is there anything that doesn't make him horny?'

Ianto grinned 'if there is I haven't found it yet'

Owen moved to leave and then hesitated, 'you need to know, Ianto – he didn't let you go easily, even with the PUSH in his system he fought Cooper's mind games as much as he could.' He sighed, 'I haven't told anyone this but…I discovered him crying in the kitchen one night when I'd been working late. He was just sitting there holding your coffee mug, breaking his heart. He'd found it in the bin, Cooper had thrown it way without telling him. She didn't care, hadn't tried to hide it, it was just placed on top of the rubbish. It was almost as if she wanted him to find it. He just kept saying "this thing with Gwen, it's all wrong. I miss him, I miss him so much" He wasn't the same without you Teaboy, truth be told...none of us were.'

Ianto raised a sceptical eyebrow, 'sentiment Dr Harper?'

'Truth, Teaboy. But come this evening I won't even remember this conversation so what the hell' he turned away and made his way slightly unsteadily down the corridor as the retcon began to take effect.

Ianto stood and watched him go, blinking hard as his vision blurred. He was suddenly wrapped in a warm embrace.

'He loves you Yan, we all do – well, maybe not Gwen - but definitely the rest of us.' Jack rolled his hips so that Ianto could feel the urgency of his erection pressing against his arse, 'no one more than me though.'

Ianto turned to face Jack, 'you are incorrigible'

Jack walked them back into the room and towards the bed, 'not my fault – you incorrige me.'

* * *

With the inconsistency of the British weather, the rain had given way to a golden sun filled evening and Jack and Ianto were wandering hand in hand along the South Bank looking for somewhere to eat. Jack would have been happy with room service in bed but Ianto had insisted that they get out of the hotel, partly for some fresh air and partly because hotel housekeeping had been increasingly desperate to get in to service the room. They had showered, separately on Ianto's insistence much to Jack's dismay, and now they were aimlessly strolling along luxuriating in just being together again. They stopped to lean on the embankment wall to admire the view of the Houses of Parliament across the river. The walls of the old building glowed in the soft golden light.

'Beautiful isn't it' said Ianto

Jack's eyes were fastened on the young man at his side 'gorgeous' he said

Ianto caught Jack staring at him and blushed 'am not' he said ducking his head self-deprecatingly

Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto's waist and rested their foreheads together. Ianto looked at him; Jack's eyes were so blue, so calm; the sadness that Ianto has seen the previous evening was completely gone.

'So,' Jack asked tentatively, 'are we back together?'

Ianto kissed him lightly on the corner of his mouth, 'yeah'

'If I told you that I had called in a few favours, tweaked the laws of the land a little, would you marry me tomorrow?' asked Jack softly

'I'd marry you right now if I could.' said Ianto

Jack chuckled, 'tomorrow will do' he said happily, ' I called my friend Liz when you were in the shower and she sorted it all out for us. She even said we could get married at her place if we would let her be a witness.'

'Liz?'

'Well, you might want to call her "Your Majesty" when you meet her' warned Jack.

Ianto pulled away to stare at him 'Are you serious?'

'Yep. 11 o'clock. Buckingham Palace. You and me'

'And…Liz?'

'And Liz"


	5. Chapter 5

Ianto settled back in his luxuriously appointed seat on the 15.15 departure from London Paddington to Cardiff Central and sipped his champagne with a contented sigh. He was beginning to understand how it felt to be on PUSH, everything that was happening to him was so wonderful and so incredible but he felt as if he was watching it happen to someone else. This was almost the first moment in this amazing day he'd had the time to sort through his memories and his feelings

* * *

It had started weirdly enough; they had been woken at 8.30 by a procession of jewellers representatives bearing examples of wedding rings, closely followed by a two delightful young men from the Armani shop in Knightsbridge who had bought with them a selection of the most wonderful outfits Ianto had ever seen.

Jack was sprawled on the bed watching Ianto slide into a beautiful charcoal grey suit, matched with a dark blue shirt and pale blue tie, 'you look amazing' he purred

Ianto ran his hand over the smooth fabric, 'yeah I do, don't I,' he agreed smugly with a grin then he sobered, 'Jack how did you manage to arrange all this in such a short time?'

Jack rolled from the bed and cautiously wrapped his arms around Ianto careful not to crease his new suit, 'I have a lot of powerful friends in this town,' he whispered, 'and I have a **lot **of money. Those two things make this simple, what makes it fun is doing it for you.'

Ianto's suit got pretty creased after that.

* * *

By 10.15 Ianto was getting very twitchy.

'Jack we are supposed to be at The Palace by 11' he fretted, then laughed, 'that is not a sentence I thought I'd ever say.'

Jack resplendent in a dark blue suit teamed with a pale grey shirt and dark grey tie that complemented Ianto's suit perfectly, pulled a pocket watch from his waist coat, 'we've got a bit of time' he said soothingly

Ianto frowned, 'Jack, London roads are a nightmare'

Jack laughed as the sound of a helicopter filtered through the window into their room, 'Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads'

* * *

Jack and Ianto followed an exquisitely dressed equerry down the corridor. Ianto's eyes were wide as he tried to take everything in. Jack smiled and reached over to clasp his hand.

'You, OK?'

Ianto nodded.

'Not having second thoughts?'

'Hell, no'

The equerry opened an ornate door and stood to one side allowing Jack and Ianto to enter

'Captain Jack Harkness and Mr Ianto Jones, Ma'am'

Ianto stood mesmerised as the Queen, the actual, real life QUEEN got up from a sofa and walked across the room with a welcoming smile on her face

'Captain Harkness, a complete pleasure as always. Mr Jones, what a delight to meet the man who has managed to domesticate Jack.'

Jack and Ianto bowed as they had been instructed to by the young equerry who had met them from the helicopter and then to Ianto's horror and Her Majesty's obvious delight Jack pulled the monarch into a warm embrace.

'Liz, you look as gorgeous as always'

'Always the charmer Jack; I know I'm an old lady now'

'Still beautiful though' said Jack gently and the Queen blushed

Ianto cleared his throat nervously, 'Ma'am I cannot thank you enough for arranging this for us.' He said softly.

The Queen waved a negligent hand, 'an absolute pleasure Mr. Jones. Shall we get started?'

* * *

The actual ceremony itself passed in a kind of dream for Ianto. He knew he should be paying greater attention, this was the most important day of his life after all but all he could think was _I'm just a boy from a Cardiff council estate, what am I doing standing in chamber in Buckingham Palace marrying an immortal time travelling man from the future with the Queen of the United Kingdom as a witness_. Then he looked into Jack's eyes and saw so much love and so much trust that his heart stood still and he forgot everything except how much he loved the man standing before him and how important it was to claim him as his own

Once they were married and the thin, pale faced and very nervous Registrar from Westminster City Council had reiterated his congratulations and departed, the Queen moved to the wall and pushed a bell to summon refreshments. She turned to Jack and Ianto,

'Do you mind if the children join us, gentleman? Jack, I know they would like to see you again and offer their congratulations to you.'

It was all getting a bit too much for Ianto so he took his glass of champagne and quietly effaced himself against the wall, just watching Jack who was chatting and flirting with the Princess Royal and The Prince of Wales as well as Her Majesty. All three were looking at Jack with an expression that Ianto was all too familiar with, _bloody hell Jack_, thought Ianto with amusement, _is there any one you haven't had?_

The young equerry they had met earlier insinuated himself into the room and approached the Queen,

'Excuse me, Ma'am' he interjected deferentially, 'everything you requested has been arranged and if um..Captain and Mr Harkness-Jones are ready I can escort them to the car.'

Thank you Giles.' The Queen turned to Jack, 'I believe your plan is to head back to Cardiff today, Captain?'

'Jack nodded, 'Yes, we will catch the 15.15 and honeymoon in a suite at the St David's and then tomorrow...unfortunately we have some unfinished business that can't wait.'

Her Majesty nodded, 'well,' she smiled, 'I can still remember what it's like to be a newlywed. The final coach on the 15.15 Paddington to Cardiff train is my personal state carriage, it's at your disposal for your journey, gentleman.'

'Liz' Jack pulled the Queen into another hug, 'that is so generous. How can I ever thank you?'

The Queen smiled gently and, Ianto noticed, had a sneaky grope of Jack's bum, 'This country, indeed, this family owe you more than we can ever hope to repay. Consider this a small token of the esteem in which the House of Windsor holds you.'

Giles cleared his throat, 'If Captain and Mr Harkness-Jones would like to follow me.'

* * *

Once more Jack and Ianto were following the equerry down endless corridors. The young man paused outside of a small room and gave a discreet cough,

'It will take around 20 minutes for me to organise road clearance for the car Sirs' he said, 'perhaps you would like to avail yourselves of this room whilst you wait.' He made eye contact with Jack and smiled, 'I think you will find it to your taste.'

Jack entered the room and laughed loudly, as he took in the comfortable looking large gold brocade sofa that faced the window together with the small bottle of lube and the silver dish of condoms that had been placed thoughtfully on a small side table.

'Giles, my man, you never fail to impress'

'I do my best, Captain.'

'I remember'

* * *

Jack pulled Ianto into the room and locked the door behind them, pushing him against the wall and swooping in for a plundering kiss, sliding his hands down to cup Ianto's burgeoning hardness through his trousers.

Ianto squirmed away, 'Jack! We can't!'

Jack rubbed Ianto's stiffening cock even harder, 'This says we can' he murmured and he grasped Ianto's hand and placed it on his own erection, 'so does this' he continued.

Ianto felt his inhibitions melting along with most of his intellect as the irresistible combination of Jack's pheromones and his touch worked their usual magic. In next to no time Ianto found himself , jacket and shoes discarded, sprawled out on the ubiquitous brocade sofa with Jack's cock in his mouth and Jack's mouth on his cock. It didn't take long before Ianto could feel the coiling heat of his orgasm building, he desperately sucked hard at the head of Jack's penis and the resultant groan vibrating through his own cock was all it took for him to spill into the wet heat of Jack's clever mouth at the same time as Jack's hot come flooded his own.

Panting and laughing Jack placed a gentle kiss on the head of Ianto's cock as it softened, making the younger man groan with pleasure and over stimulation. Jack slithered round to take his new husband in his arms and placed a moist kiss on his forehead.

'OK, Mr Harkness-Jones?'

'Yes, thank Captain Harkness-Jones' replied Ianto primly, making Jack laugh again.

Jack pulled them both into a sitting position and handed Ianto a bottle of water that he had found in an ice bucket on the floor. Ianto took a long drink, then threw his head back to rest against the back of the sofa and gave a slightly hysterical chuckle, Jack cocked an eyebrow

'I can't believe I have just had a blow job in Buckingham Palace.'

'Jack grinned, 'the first one is the one you remember most' he said

That reminded Ianto of the expressions he had seen on the faces of the members of the Royal Family as they socialised with Jack after their marriage. 'Jack' he asked cautiously, 'is there anyone that we have met here today that you haven't have sex with?'

Jack blushed, 'Hey, you should have seen Liz in the 1950's she was hot'

'And the Princess Royal?'

Jack's eyes glazed slightly, 'amazing muscle control. It's all that horse riding'

'And, gods help us, the Prince of Wales?'

'Everyone experiments in College.'

Ianto rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to interrogate Jack some more when there was a diplomatic tap on the door 'Giles' guessed Ianto

A broad reminiscent smile spread across Jack's face 'oh yeah' he purred

'At the door' pointed out Ianto patiently

'Oh right' Jack carefully tucked himself back in his pants, scooped up a large handful of condoms from the silver dish and stowed them in his pockets; he nodded to Ianto to get the door.

'Jack!' hissed Ianto, outraged, 'you can't steal condoms from the Queen' he had to bite his lip to stop the absurdity of what he had just said overwhelming him.

'Sure I can' smirked Jack, 'don't you want condoms with the Royal coat of arms on them. Think how much style they will add to our bathroom. Besides...' he winked at Ianto, 'I have reputation to maintain.'

'Better or worse' mumbled Ianto under his breath as he unlocked the door for Giles, 'I took him for better or worse.' But his smile was making his cheeks hurt.'

* * *

A large warm hand rested on Ianto's thigh

'Penny for your thoughts'

Ianto smiled happily, 'This has been without doubt the most brilliant day of my entire life. It's also been the most surreal day of my entire life and, let's face it, I've worked for Torchwood.'

Jack chuckled, 'yeah copy that' he said, 'our wedding photos alone come under the "weirdest wedding album ever" heading I think'

'That or it could get us arrested for treason'

'Yea, but in my defence it was his hand on my arse, not the other way around'

Jack took Ianto's glass of champagne from him and carefully set it down on the low table in front of them; he stood up and pulled Ianto into his arms, balancing them both easily against the swaying of the train. He tenderly ran his finger tips over the young man's face.

'Ianto, I'm sorry for what I did to you, I'm sorry that my behaviour drove you away from me' he began

Ianto held Jack tightly, 'Jack, please, don't. It wasn't your fault. We have each other again that's all that matters.'

A solitary tear slide down Jack's face but her never broke eye contact with Ianto 'things were so horrible without you and I was so unhappy but now I've got you here in my arms and I can call you "husband" and I can't believe I could ever be this lucky.'

Ianto kissed Jack who rested his head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly as Ianto ran his hands soothingly over his back.

'I'm the lucky one' said Ianto 'I get to be your husband - it doesn't get any better than that'

Both men moved over to the sofa and lay down, still in each other's arms stealing soft kisses, content just to feel each other's body heat.

Jack smiled, 'this time last week I was so miserable and now I'm scared to think about how happy I am.'

'Yeah, we are married and lying in each other's arms in the Queen's royal carriage, I don't want to analyse it too much in case I wake up'

'I love you' whispered Jack

Ianto put his lip close to Jack's ear, making him shiver with delight, 'I love you more' he told him

* * *

After a while Ianto stirred, 'I'm hungry' he told Jack, 'shall I do a buffet car run?'

Jack laughed, rolled to his feet and produced a Fortnum and Mason's hamper from behind the bar, 'You are new to Royal travel aren't you?'

'God bless the Queen' said Ianto reverently.

As Jack unpacked the food and Ianto poured more champagne, Ianto remembered something he had heard Jack tell the Queen

'So, honeymoon at the St David's' he asked

'Yeah' said Jack, 'Is that OK?'

'Jack, I'd honeymoon under a tree in Bute Park with you and love it' said Ianto, 'so, yeah my love, the St David's is more than OK, it's perfect'

Jack looked relieved, 'perfect was what I was aiming for' he admitted

Ianto squeezed his hand, 'and tomorrow we go back to the Hub and sort out Gwen Cooper?'

Jack's face fell, 'yeah, we go back to the Hub and sort out Gwen Cooper' he sighed

'Well' said Ianto, 'there is one good thing about that.' Jack raised an eyebrow and Ianto raised their clasped hands, twisting them so the diamonds in their rings caught the light 'we'll sort her out together, as a married couple'

Jack's smile was incandescent, 'a married couple, I like the sound of that.'


	6. Chapter 6

However, whilst Jack and Ianto were reclaiming each other in London, the atmosphere in Cardiff had been far less cordial.

* * *

Gwen had been stomping around the Hub in a blazing temper. She had been in a foul mood ever since Jack had disappeared without a word, leaving only a terse note; _Gwen, called away for high security UNIT meeting, back in four days. Don't try to contact me, I'll be incommunicado until I get back. Jack_. No protestations of love, no "I'll miss you", nothing. Gwen had been furious. Despite Jack's strict instruction that he was not to be disturbed; she had tried calling him and had nearly combusted with fury when she found his phone charger underneath their bed. She was certain he had left it there on purpose so that his phone battery would die and she would be unable to trace him via his phone's GPS. Her fury had increased when she had logged into the mainframe to find an e-mail telling the team that, in Jack's absence, Tosh was in charge.

That little bombshell had caused a very tense and unpleasant mood in the Hub for the first couple of days, with Gwen questioning Tosh on every decision she made until Tosh had finally snapped, removed her from field duty for the day and sent her into Jack's office to make a start on his outstanding paperwork. Seeing the look of distaste on her face, Tosh had further suggested that if that was not to Gwen's taste she could easily be put on vault cleaning duty until further notice. Owen had nearly wet himself laughing as Gwen had flounced off in a huff. Stomping bad temperedly into Jack's work space; Gwen had taken one look at the towering pile of documents, snorted and settled herself down for a nap on his surprisingly comfortable sofa.

She had been disturbed a couple of hours later by Owen yelling something about he and Toshiko going out for coffee. _Good_, thought Gwen, _they fetching coffee for me, they must finally realising how important I am._ She stuck her head out of the doorway and yelled

'Bring food'.

Then she headed back to the sofa.

* * *

Her temper had not improved when she wandered out some hours later to find out what had happened to lunch to find Tosh working on a defence algorithm for the hub whilst eating an enormous apple.

'Where's lunch' demanded Gwen

Tosh looked shifty, 'sorry, we got sidetracked' she gestured vaguely in the direction of the kitchen, 'I think there's a yoghurt left in the fridge.'

'Where's Owen?'

'Out'

'I didn't hear a rift alert.'

'There wasn't one'

'Then where is he?'

With a sigh, Tosh stopped working, saved what she was doing and turned to look at her team mate, 'Owen is out. I sent him out; he won't be back today because I told him to go straight home afterwards. Jack left me in charge and Owen is obeying my orders. Something you have manifestly failed to do for the last day and a half.'

Gwen huffed with annoyance, 'I'm a member of this team and I have to know where my team members are at all times.'

Tosh stood up, thankful that her heels gave her an extra inch of height over the Welshwoman, 'no, Gwen. I have to know that because Jack left me in command. All you have to do is what you are told, but you can't even manage that can you?'

As Gwen opened her mouth to get into a real Welsh yelling match with the petite Japanese woman, Toshiko's phone bleeped. Tosh glanced at the screen, it was a message from a phone number that she didn't recognise, she held up a finger to quell Gwen's incipient outburst then bit her lip as she read the text,

"_Priority One Message – Gwen Cooper to be considered level one threat. Interact only with extreme caution. No other action required at this point. Do not accept food or drink from her – KEEP MYFANWY SAFE. CJH"_

Tosh erased the message, slipped her phone into the pocket of her jeans and turned back to Gwen. 'OK' she said briskly, 'I am tired of this.' Hastily she closed down her work station and gathered her belongings 'since you have done no work at all today, I've set up the rift monitor to send alarms to your mobile and laptop but I would like you to stay here in the Hub tonight, with Jack away it;s not a big ask. If there is a rift alerts and it's something small you deal with it, if you need back up call me before Owen.'

'WHAAT!' shrieked Gwen

Tosh gave a nonchalant wave as she strode through the cog-wheel door and headed up to the Tourist Information office, smiling to herself as Gwen's outraged shrieks followed her up the stairwell.

* * *

The following morning Owen Harper had woken up happy, happier than he could remember being for a very long time. Tosh had turned up at his flat the previous evening bearing Thai food and beer and wanting to discuss Jack's cryptic Priority One text. They had no doubt that the message was from the Captain, the phrase, 'Keep Myfanwy safe' confirmed it, even though the text had not come from Jack's phone. They had both agreed that they had no alternative but to obey Jack's instructions and trust that he had the situation in hand. Owen had nearly choked laughing when Tosh had described her confrontation with Gwen in the Hub that evening.

'All the same' he said when he had calmed down, 'I wish you hadn't discovered your assertive, commanding side just as Cooper has gone all evil-twin on us. It's typical of Jack to be so bloody cryptic but we have to be careful if she as dangerous as he says'

'I take it the fact you are back means you were able to help Jack?' asked Tosh carefully; Owen had told her his retcon plan before he had boarded the helicopter.

Owen frowned 'yeah I guess so. I don't remember but I can't imagine I'd leave him if he wasn't OK'

'I don't suppose you remember seeing Ianto at all' probed Tosh, 'when he called me he seemed to imply that he and Jack were back together.'

Owen shook his head, 'I really don't remember anything and its probably better not to push it' he warned, 'we don't know what might trigger my memory. If Cooper is that much of a threat we need to make sure we keep plausible deniability

Tosh lowered her head, 'no, sorry. I know you are right' she said softly, 'I...I just want them to be happy together. I love them both, so much.'

She looked so sad and so loving that Owen pulled her close, kissed her gently and, for the first time since they had begun their relationship, whispered, 'I do love you, so very much, Tosh.'

Tosh looked up at him, her face radiant, 'I love you too.'

* * *

Owen smiled, and stretched out in the bed. After he had lost Katie he could imagine ever wanting to say those words again but now he had a beautiful Japanese woman in his life who accepted him for what he was and saw beyond the cynical and sarcastic persona he projected. Tosh stirred in his arms.

'Morning' she smiled, 'did I dream it or did you tell me that you love me, last night

Owen laughed and kissed her, ' I was just wondering the same thing, but yes last night I said I love you and I'll tell you every day for the rest of our lives if you'll let me,' he grinned at Tosh's adorable semi-awake confusion.

'What?'

'How about we get married?' asked Owen.

* * *

It was around 10.30 when Tosh and Owen stumbled into the Hub giggling and whispering to each other to be confronted by a terminally irritable Gwen.

'So Jack's is gone for three days and this is how you act?' she snarked, 'Owen it's nothing more that I would expect from you. Your professionalism is dubious at best and your commitment to Torchwood is questionable but Tosh , you are supposed to be in command, I expected more from you and clearly Jack was fooled by your good girl demeanour into promoting you beyond your command ability.' She waved a file folder in their faces, ' While I have been stuck here waiting for you to come relieve me, I've compiled a full report for when Jack comes back and once he's read it, trust me, things will change around here.'

Owen put his arm around Tosh, 'wanna take this one, my love?'

Tosh smiled sweetly 'Ok' she moved toward Gwen who took an involuntary step backwards, Tosh brandished her hand in the other woman's face, the fire opals in her new engagement ring sparkled in the lights of the Hub 'you are right' she told her, 'things are gonna change around here. Owen and I got engaged this morning so you can keep your jealous looks and "accidental" touches of his arm or his arse to yourself from now on and you can put your tits back in those tight low cut tops of yours because Owen isn't interested and poor Jack looks like he's bored of them already. However, Jack left me in charge and that's one thing that hasn't changed; now I believe you still have Jack's paperwork to clear, so off you go'

Gwen had stormed off fuming and thrown herself down behind Jack's desk. This situation did not suit her at all. She had thought that once she had found a way to enthral, well, OK drug, Jack and make him hers, everything in her world would be right and all her problems would be over. At first things had gone so well, Rhys had been so easy to dump and it still made her laugh when she thought about how simple it had been to remove Ianto Jones, the pathetic loser. Jack clearly had no faith in the stupid boy at all. She had managed to convince herself that Jack had believed that Ianto was cheating, so quickly, because he was subconsciously looking for a way out of their whatever-it-was rather than it being due to drug she had fed him for the first time that night. That had been a stroke of genius; Gwen hugged herself as she thought about her own cleverness in working out how to use PUSH to control Jack and in keep him far more faithful to her than Ianto had ever managed to. As soon as Jack had told her what the drug did on the way back from retrieval mission, the completely formed plan popped into her head. Jack and Ianto were always having fights; all she had to do was wait for the next one and use the drug to nudge Jack in the right direction, her direction. But now, she was intensely annoyed that not only had meek and mild Toshiko Sato seemed to find a backbone but she had apparently ensnared Owen as well. Gwen didn't actually want Owen anymore, hadn't really given him a second thought after their fling had ended but she wasn't prepared to see him happy with Tosh for any length of time and the idea of the two of them getting married was just preposterous.

Listlessly Gwen gathered up some of the files from Jack's desk, preparing to take them down to the archives, _why can't things go the way I want them to_ she thought to herself moodily, _it's not much to ask. No-one considers me at all._ Then she smiled as another example of her own brilliance stuck her. The vial labelled Phenyl-uraniate-suxameth-hexethalene that she had carefully stored in the secure archive a few months ago contained nothing but tap water, she had decanted the drug into an old water bottle and had hidden most in the flat she shared with Jack and concealed the rest in the archives in case she need it at work. It would be simple, she mused, to slip some PUSH into Owen and Toshiko's coffee and then "suggest" to them that their engagement was rash and foolish and that they should break up. Better yet, she would apologise to them both and offer her congratulations on their engagement then suggest that they go out for a drink to celebrate; Jack would be back tomorrow so she could kill three birds with one stone, get Jack back in line, teach that bitch Sato a lesson and keep Owen keen in case she wanted a bit of a change from Jack who, quite frankly, was disappointing her more and more these days. Although the sex in the early days and weeks had been as spectacular as she had always imagined it would be, recently Jack's enthusiasm and attention to detail seemed to be waning. He called out Ianto's name in his sleep and he thought she didn't know that went he wanked in the shower it wasn't her name but the Teaboy's he cried out when he came. She would put a stop to that behaviour as soon as she got him home, of that she was certain. Feeling happier now she had a plan Gwen almost skipped down to the archives. So wrapped up was she in her own machinations she was unaware that Owen and Tosh were watching her with sombre faces.

'She's plotting something' whispered Owen

'Yeah' agreed Tosh, 'what do we do?'

'What does the rift predictor say?'

Tosh moved over to her work station and tapped a few keys, 'quiet for the next three days then a small spike, nothing major'

'Then I say we keep out of her way for the rest of today and let Jack deal with her when he's back tomorrow.'

'Will he though?' worried Tosh, 'she seems to have him well and truly under her thumb. Although when I spoke to Ianto he implied that he and Jack had somehow found each other again, so maybe...'

Owen frowned, 'I think Jack was trying to fight his way out of his relationship with Gwen even before he ran out on us, if Teaboy is back on the scene, especially if he and Jack are fucking again, Cooper may find her control of Jack weakening'

Tosh slipped her hand into Owen's 'let's hope so'

* * *

After a couple of hours, Gwen appeared from the archives with a sycophantic smile on her face. Tosh was still furiously typing at her work station and Owen had just entered the Hub carrying two pizza boxes.

'Good timing' he said brandishing the boxes, 'lunch is here'

Gwen followed Tosh and Owen over to the sofa, 'Thanks Owen, that's really kind of you. I'm starving.' She helped herself to a slice and continued hesitantly, 'I'm sorry about earlier, I'm delighted for you both and I know Jack will be too. I take it we are still expecting him back tomorrow?' She looked quizzically at her colleagues

'Haven't heard anything to make me think he has changed his plans' said Tosh

Gwen smiled, 'how about you both come to us for dinner tomorrow night, then?'

Owen looked at Tosh who nodded, 'Thanks Gwen, that would be lovely' he said

Gwen laughed a bit nastily, 'look at you, socialising as a couple. Tosh really has you tamed hasn't she?'

Tosh swallowed her pizza, wiped her mouth daintily and spoke up, 'Gwen, you were here all night and now you have a dinner party to plan. The rift predictor says everything is going to be quiet for a while. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? We'll all make sure that we are in by 8.30 tomorrow since we don't know what time Jack is planning to arrive back.'

Gwen smiled, 'Thanks Tosh, I won't say no' she jumped to her feet, grabbed her coat and bag from her desk and headed quickly towards the cog wheel door so that she could hide her expression of complete derision for the stupidity of her colleagues.

Once the door had rolled closed Owen and Tosh sat hand in hand in silence for a few minutes then burst out laughing.

'God. You could almost hear her brain working couldn't you?'

Tosh nodded, 'one moment she is looking at us as if she would like to see us dead then we are double dating with her and Jack? How simple minded does she think we are?'

Owen lifted their linked hands and brushed a kiss over Tosh's knuckles, 'Still I'm glad she's gone,' he said, 'It's not like Jack to get twitchy, sending Priority One messages. I'm happier without her around.'

Tosh nodded, 'me too – still I wish Jack was here.'

Owen tried to look offended at Tosh's perceived lack of faith in him but, thinking about how Cooper had looked at them both, especially Toshiko, he couldn't help but nod, 'yeah, me too'


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Ianto thought when he awoke in Jack's arms the following day was that he had forgotten how the early morning Cardiff light enhanced the blue of Jack's eyes; the blue eyes that were now staring lovingly into his own. Ianto grinned

'Hello husband'

Jack grinned back, 'hello husband'

'What time is it?' asked Ianto sleepily

'5.47' said Jack confidently

Ianto frowned, 'that's very specific' he said, 'how do you know?'

Jack kissed the tip of Ianto's nose, 'easy; the shadows on the wall tell me that the sun isn't very high in the sky' he said, 'the breeze from the window is still quite cool suggesting that the outside temperature is still at an early morning low and the noise from the roads tell me that the traffic is quite light and therefore it must be pre-rush hour'

'That's very impressive' said Ianto

'Besides' said Jack, 'I can see your watch on the bedside table'

'JACK!' Ianto launched himself onto his spouse who was helpless with laughter, running his fingers over the older man's ribs making him laugh even harder

'Ok, ok, enough' panted Jack making an abortive attempt to grab Ianto's wrists. Ianto retaliated by grasping Jack's wrists and pinning them above his head and they lay chest to chest grinning and gasping. Ianto moved closer to Jack, his breath catching as their nipples brushed enticingly against each other. Jack's eyes began to darken and he canted his hips so that his erection slid teasingly against Ianto's. For a long time the two men were content to lay entwined, eyes locked, thrusting gently together feeling their desire wax and wane with their movements, basking in the happiness of just being with each other. After a while, however, Jack noticed that Ianto's eyes were glazing over and it was obvious that his mind was wandering; Jack took Ianto's ear lobe between his lips sucking hard and then biting gently making him shudder and groan.

'Am I boring you, Ianto?'

Ianto kissed Jack's neck, 'sorry, just realised that I have walked away from my London life without a word to anyone or a backwards glance. There is so much I need to do. I need to cancel the lease on my flat, put my notice in at the library, I need...' he broke off as Jack twisted them so that Ianto lay beneath him.

'You need to let me make love with you, you need to have me inside you making you scream, you need come and come and come until you nearly pass out and then...then you need to do all that to me.'

'Wow', Ianto sounded impressed, 'you really have given this a lot of thought, Jack' his voice wavered as Jack slid down his body to slurp one of his balls into his mouth as his fingers explored Ianto's hungry puckered hole.

'Oh gods' shrieked Ianto as Jack inserted his finger and probed for his prostate at the same time as he sucked the head of his weeping penis into his clever mouth.

* * *

An hour later Ianto stood in the shower buried balls deep in Jack's arse, pounding him furiously as Jack thrust back against him, his hands held flat on the tiled wall.

'Please Yan' wailed Jack, 'please touch me'

Ianto thrust even more strongly and bit Jack's shoulder so hard he drew blood, ' no' he growled, 'come just from the feel of me inside you, come now Jack, come for me now'

Jack threw his head back and screamed Ianto's name as his ejaculate sprayed copiously over the shower cubicle wall and Ianto emptied himself deep inside his spouse. They collapsed together onto the floor of the shower, Ianto having the presence of mind to shut of the water as they did so. They wrapped their arms around each other placing gentle kisses on whatever patch of wet skin they could comfortably reach

'Love you'

'Love you more'

* * *

In the Hub, Owen was making a half hearted attempt to tidy his autopsy bay whilst Gwen was wandering around with a black rubbish sack throwing the occasional discarded pizza box in to it but really just fantasising about what Jack might do to her to show how much he had missed her. Tosh was at her work station, reviewing Jack's e-mails in order to prioritise them for his attention when he returned and keeping one eye on her colleagues. Owen looked up and caught her gaze making her smile as his face softened and he blew her a small kiss. Gwen caught their exchange and scowled, _enjoy it whist you can_ she thought viciously, fingering the small flask of PUSH that she had collected from its hiding place in the vaults earlier, _come tonight you will loathe each other. _She stood in the shadows, gazing off into space, lost in her own happy little world where everything and everyone was arranged for her satisfaction. She was jerked from her reverie by the klaxon indicating the opening of the cog wheel door.

'Hey kids, did ya miss me?'

'JACK!' Gwen dropped her rubbish bag, ran across the hub, elbowing Tosh to one side and throwing herself into Jack's unenthusiastic embrace

'I missed you baby, I missed you so much' she peppered his face with kisses and slid her hand between them to cup his genitals.

A gentle cough sounded from the doorway, 'would you like to explain why you have your grubby little claws on my husband's cock?' enquired Ianto mildly as he moved to stand next to Jack and placed a proprietorial hand on his arse.

Owen and Tosh exchanged glances and quietly moved to stand behind Gwen, Tosh collecting a stun gun from her desk as she did so.

Gwen look a step back, a look of confusion crossing her smug features, 'Jack? Baby? What's going on,' recovering herself she cast a contemptuous sneer at Ianto, 'and what the hell is HE doing here?'

Jack reached down and took Ianto's hand 'my husband and I..' he began then stopped as Ianto started to chuckle making Jack laugh also. Jack made an effort to pull himself together and began again. 'Ianto and I got married yesterday. He is my mate, my lover, my husband and my soul and you...you are nothing to me.'

Gwen's eyes flashed, 'nothing?' she said, 'have the last eight months been nothing? Is the love we have for each other nothing? Have you forgotten that this little shit was cheating on you?'

Jack gave her a ferocious grin that showed far more teeth than a human could reasonably possess 'sorry,' he snarled, 'but that won't work anymore. I've had at least five days without you feeding me PUSH so you can keep your poisonous suggestions to yourself.'

Gwen didn't hesitate, she whipped her gun out and pointed it at Ianto, 'you fucking loser' she snarled, 'why do you have to spoil everything. Why. Don't. You. Just. DIE.'

With a growl, Tosh discharged her stun gun into the back of Gwen's neck, stepping hurriedly back to allow the fuming woman to crash heavily to the floor. Owen bent and retrieved Gwen's gun and searched her holding up the flask of PUSH he found in the inside pocket of her jacket. Jack had Ianto in his arms and was kissing him desperately and murmuring endearments to him whilst Tosh now had her arms around both men and was sobbing quietly.

'Jack 'said Owen, 'I hate to interrupt this love in but we have questions, the first one being - what do you want us to do with this?' and he shoved Gwen's unconscious form with is foot.

Jack sighed, 'put her in a cell for the time being. She has injured all of us in one way or another so we all need to discuss what to do with her. Lock her up and join us in the conference room in ten minutes.'

Owen nodded, handed the bottle containing the PUSH to Jack, manoeuvred Gwen's body into a position that allowed him to sling the limp woman over his shoulder and headed towards the vaults. 'Make us a coffee, Teaboy' he called back as he disappeared.

* * *

Jack and Ianto, Tosh and Owen sat around the table in the boardroom sipping coffee.

'Oh' moaned Owen, 'I have so-oo missed your coffee, Teaboy.'

Tosh thumped him gently on the arm, 'don't listen to him, Ianto' she said, 'tell us about the wedding. Maybe we can get some tips for ours'

Jack leant across the table and picked up Tosh's hand, raising a quizzical eyebrow as he ran his thumb over her engagement ring, 'when did this happen?'

'This morning' smiled Tosh.

'Brilliant' Jack's wide smile took in both Tosh and Owen, 'that is so brilliant.'

'Yeah' Ianto shook Owen's hand, 'congratulations to you both, it's about time if you ask me'

Owen snorted, 'like you have room to talk'

'C'mon then' said Tosh excitedly, 'tell us everything.'

Ianto got to his feet, 'Jack can get you updated, I think we are going to need more coffee' he said

* * *

Ianto deliberately lingered in the kitchen once he had made the coffee. He knew Jack would be making a good story about their wedding and he was sorry to be missing it, but he really did not want to have to hear about the abuse that Gwen had subjected Jack to during his absence one more time. He was trying desperately to keep a grip on his emotions. When Jack and Owen had worked out Gwen's plot when they were in London, he had carefully concealed his fury from them both but now he had actually been face to face with her he could feel his rage churning in his belly. He carefully set out the mugs on the tray with shaking hands; he felt murderous, he wanted to go down to the vault and rip the duplicitous bitch to pieces with his bare hands because she had hurt Jack, his Jack. He placed his palms flat onto the worktop and took a deep shuddering breath; he was, he knew, a man who prided himself on his self control and his imperturbably and he knew that people found him hard to get to know. Lisa had always said that he made people work hard for his friendship, adding that the hard work was well worth it. Ianto was both exhilarated and terrified by the strength of his feeling for Jack Harkness.

Taking a deep breath Ianto made his way back to the boardroom, distributed the coffees and resumed his seat. Jack was in mid-sentence '...once Owen had isolated the PUSH molecular chain and I had recognised it, the solution was simple'

Tosh snorted 'how can it be such a dangerous drug when the antidote is so easily available?'

Jack smiled, 'easily available on 21st century earth' he said, 'by the 51st century the only ascorbic acid available is genetically modified and synthesized in laboratories and even the very best was not as pure as the natural stuff you guys drink at breakfast time every day. We really caught a lucky break to be honest'

Tosh shook her head sadly, 'I can't believe that we didn't see how disturbed Gwen was. I mean. It was obvious that she didn't like the attention you paid to Ianto but to drug you, to forcibly separate you both...that's..that's...' her voice tailed away

'I know Ianto and I are the injured parties' said Jack quietly but she was a threat to you guys too. She is a seriously deranged and dangerous woman'

Owen nodded, 'you are not wrong there, Captain. You should have seen way she looked at Tosh when she noticed her engagement ring. I can guess why she had that PUSH on her; tonight's dinner party would have been most interesting'

Jack looked confused 'Dinner party?'

Tosh broke in, 'she invited Owen and I to have dinner with you both at your place tonight'

Owen prodded the bottle of PUSH that was sitting innocuously on the table, 'I suspect the main course would have had some extra kick' he said.

Jack pulled a face and nodded, 'We need to do something to contain her and it has to be a team decision. Something we can all live with'

Owen leaned across the table, 'I say we just take her out.' He pulled a finger across his throat in graphic pantomime, 'we can't trust her, she is clearly obsessively psychotic as far as you are concerned. We won't be able to rely on her in the field, we know how she reacts to Retcon and how could you ever trust her near Ianto? Jack, she pulled a gun on him. Tosh, tell him!'

Tosh shook her head, 'I agree with everything you say 'she said firmly, 'but we kill her and *pft* that's it. She should suffer for what she has done to both and she should suffer for a very long time. I say we give her to UNIT '

Jack took hold of Ianto's hand and held it very tightly, he was staring at the table top as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen, 'she was supposed to remind us of our humanity. She was kind and big hearted until she met me, until I tainted her. This is all my fault. How can we punish her for something that I made her do?'

Ianto snorted, 'you made her think that, even though she was in a relationship of her own, that it was OK to lust after you?'

Jack shifted uncomfortably; 'I flirted with her...' he began

Ianto rolled his eyes in exasperation, 'Jack, you flirt with everyone' he said, 'how did you make her think that you being in a loving, committed relationship make it acceptable for her to engineer the destruction of that relationship? How did you give her the idea of drugging and raping you for the last eight months? How did you make her point that gun at me? Jack all of this mess was completely down to Gwen fucking Cooper and her twisted mind.'

Jack released Ianto and ran his hands through his hair, 'we can't trust her, Owen is right. But killing her...locking her away? Making her suffer? Does she deserve that? Are those the people we want to be?'

Owen and Tosh were nodding enthusiastically but Ianto took hold of Jack's hand again, I think the questions that need answering are 'why are you still making excuses for her? Why are you still protecting her, above all of us, above me?' he asked softly, 'why do you let her get away with this shit? Does she mean that much to you? Because if she does – where does that leave me, Jack? Where does that leave us?'

Jack twisted in his chair to face his spouse, 'No Yan, no' he said frantically, 'you, you mean the world to me, no-one, nothing is more important to me than you but, it's just... this...it's Gwen. She was our friend, our colleague, our team mate. I – I can't just discard her'

'She was never any of those things to me' replied Ianto

'Nor me' added Tosh

Me, neither' said Owen. Then when the others started at him in disbelief, he shrugged, 'it was a short affair, not even that really, just a few meaningless shags. We were never...close'

Jack opened his mouth to make a comment but the rift alert cut across his speech. 'Oh, now?' He asked the universe in general, 'you have to be fucking kidding me!'

Owen frowned at Tosh, 'thought we weren't expecting anything' he said accusingly

Tosh blushed and tapped the keys of her laptop, 'it's not infallible' she said defensively, she frowned, 'there's a big rift spike in Newport, looks like space junk but there's loads of it so it could be masking any accompanying life forms.' She threw an apologetic glance at Jack, 'it's going to take all of us.'

'OK' Jack nodded, 'Tosh, Owen you are with me.'

Tosh and Owen hurried form the board room to collect their kit and Jack stood to follow them, he hesitated and placed his hand on Ianto's cheek, 'you do believe how much I love you and how important you are to me, don't you? We'll deal with Gwen Cooper together as a team, but you and me, we are still OK, aren't we?'

Ianto smiled at him, 'no way I'd let an evil cow like Gwen Cooper split us up ever again, We are more than OK, Jack and, for future reference, we always will be, no matter what'

Jack smiled with relief, 'will you wait for me'

'Yeah, I'll stay here' Ianto said, 'I can sort out all my London stuff.'

Jack bent and ran his hand tenderly over Ianto's face, 'promise me you will stay away from the vaults' he begged softly.

Ianto dropped a light kiss into Jack's palm, 'Ok, I promise. Go'

As the team trooped out, Ianto made his way up to Jack's office and booted up his computer, he smiled gently as he realized that, in the eight months they had been apart, Jack had not revoked his access codes. He logged himself in and began to send the e-mails that would make his return to Cardiff official.


	8. Chapter 8

Ianto worked steadily in Jack's office with only occasional glances at the CCTV feed from the vaults. Gwen was pacing in the confined space glaring up at the surveillance camera from time to time. Ianto found he couldn't really stand to look at her and so made a conscious effort to concentrate on what he was doing. Eventually he could bear it no longer and decided to visit the archives to see what sort of mess they were in.

He was checking on the contents of medical archives when the alarm on the cog wheel door sound and, glancing at his watch, he was surprised to realise that Jack and the others had been out for nearly five hours. He got to his feet anticipating demands for coffee but broke into a run when he heard Owen yelling at the top of his voice, 'Teaboy, Teaboy, IANTO '

Ianto shot into the main area of the Hub, Owen and Tosh were lowering a dazed and confused looking Jack onto the ratty old sofa; Ianto threw himself down beside his spouse, pulling him into his arms and running his hands over Jack's body checking for damage of any kind, 'what happened?' he demanded.

'Hello, Yan' Jack draped himself over the younger man nuzzling his neck, 'mmm, you smell edible' he purred

Ianto tried desperately to capture Jack's roaming hands which were determinedly heading south , 'Jack, behave' he glared at Owen who was unsuccessfully trying not to laugh, 'What the hell happened?' he repeated.

Tosh giggled, 'It was space junk, as we suspected. It looked like crates of party supplies; you know balloons, party hats stuff like that. There were some canisters of what Jack called 'party relaxant', he said he had been to parties when it was released into a room to help everyone become much more...friendly.' she giggled again, stroking Owen's arm with her fingertips, 'I don't know what sort of parties he was thinking of. But one of the canisters was damaged. It was cracked and when Jack picked it up the contents sprayed into his face. Since then he's been completely disinhibited, even more than usual'

'I love you so much Yanni Wanni' murmured Jack trying to unzip Ianto's trousers.

'Do we know how long the effects are likely to last' said Ianto blushing and squirming uncomfortably as Jack insinuated his fingers into his underwear, halting his progress with a tight grasp on the older man's wrist.

'Jack reckoned 12 hours. It was virtually the last sensible thing he said before he became so... totally adorable' smiled Tosh dopily

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Owen, 'Standing close to Jack was she?'

Right next to him' confirmed Owen

Tosh was leaning heavily on Owen and looking at him adoringly

'I could sedate him' offered Owen.

'I dunno' said Ianto, 'don't you think he has been drugged against his will enough over the last few months?'

'just a very mild one, enough to help him sleep it off' suggested Owen, 'Let's face it, Cooper is a tricky cow and if you have your hands full with Captain Gropey here, who knows what might happen.'

'Ok' Ianto was trying to pull Jack's head out of his lap where he appeared to be amusing himself by breathing moistly onto Ianto's penis through his boxers, making it twitch 'Gwen is confined, Jack is...' he gave a shrill yelp as Jack took advantage of his lack of attention and slide his hand between Ianto's thighs to cup his balls, '...indisposed. Owen, if you can safely dial him down a bit I would be grateful. I'll stay here with him and keep an eye on things and you two can go home, I think you might have your work cut out as well, Owen.' He glanced at Tosh who was threading her fingers through Owen's with a look of intense concentration on her face, ' A night in the cells won't do Cooper any harm, tomorrow we can sort her out, once we have Jack and Tosh back to normal.' He groaned as Jack had begun to suck and lick at his neck, 'Owen if you can do something that can help, please do it soon.'

Owen was already heading to the medical bay, 'I'm on it' he said, 'I don't need to see this go much further thank you.'

* * *

It had been surprising easy to sedate Jack who had been more interested in exploring the interior of Ianto's mouth with his tongue than what Owen was up to. Owen had gathered up Tosh who was gradually becoming increasingly affectionate and headed out throwing a sympathetic glance Ianto's way as they disappeared.

'C'mon, Cariad,' said Ianto sliding a supporting hand around Jack's waist, Jack was swaying sleepily as Owen's sedative was beginning to take effect.

'Are we going to bed?' Jack's speech was slurring slightly

'Yeah I think you need to lie down' replied Ianto steering Jack towards the bunker under his office.

'Yay!'

* * *

Even though mildly sedated Jack was still able to make it down the ladder and remove both his own and Ianto's clothing with all of his old skill and finesse. Ianto lay down and allowed Jack to curl up next to him.

'This is nice' yawned Jack as he rested his head in Ianto's broad chest, 'I like being here with you. I don't have to be Captain Harkness, don't have to make the hard decisions, do the dirty jobs or be the bad guy. I can just be Jack of Ianto and Jack.' He ran his fingers over Ianto's hip whilst repeating.' IantoandJack, IanotandJack,' in a sing-song voice

_Oh_ thought Ianto, suddenly realising why Jack had appeared so improbably protective of Gwen earlier on, _how stupid of me!_ He held Jack close and murmured 'Is this why you don't want to make a decision about what to do with Gwen? You don't want to be the bad guy?'

'Yeah' said Jack, softly and slowly, dropping tiny kisses onto Ianto's naked chest and snuggling closer, 'I have lived a long time, I've done... questionable things. I have tried to be a better man, your love, your acceptance of me for who I am has made me a better man. I'm not trying to make excuses for Gwen, I know she is a dangerous liability; I know she is a real threat to you and to me, to us. I know exactly what steps I must take to keep you safe from her; I know what needs to be done but I don't want to do any of the things that she deserves. I'm scared that if I did what I wanted to her, if you saw what I am truly capable of, if you saw who I really am, you wouldn't want me anymore and I...I couldn't bear that' his voice trailed away as he slipped into sleep.

'Oh Jack' Ianto pressed a tender kiss onto the sleeping man's temple, this vulnerable, disinhibited, truth-telling Jack was heart-rending, 'there is nothing you could do that would stop me wanting you.' He held his husband tightly; he knew now what he had to do.

* * *

Gwen Cooper lay back on the uncomfortable stone bench that doubled as a bunk, hands folded behind her head, legs crossed at the ankles. She wasn't scared or even that worried; she was confident that no matter how bad things looked she would be able to talk her way out of it. The PUSH she was using on Jack was like a miracle drug in Gwen's opinion, there seemed to be nothing that she couldn't get him to do with just a firm suggestion and, apart from the last few days she had been giving it to him in varying doses for eight months. God knew how much there was still in his system. She was supremely confident that, if she told Jack with enough authority to release her, he would. When Jack had forgotten her birthday she had given him a triple dose of PUSH and hinted that the way to ensure that he remembered her important day in the future was to carve the date into his body. Jack had obeyed her without question; standing naked in their shower with blood streaming down his arms and torso, until eventually the blood loss killed him. Gwen had Retconned him on his revival, truth be told she had quite frightened herself both by the fact that she had even thought of making Jack do such a thing and the almost sexual surge of power she had experienced as she watched him carry out her demand. _I'm changing,_ she mused, _I used to look for the good in people but now I look for their weaknesses, for ways to exploit them to my benefit. _She remembered how Jack had told her he has employed her so that she could remind the rest of the team what they were fighting for. A look of derision crossed her face, _old Gwen was such a wet,_ she thought to herself, _new Gwen knows what she wants and she gets it. This won't even slow me down. Once Jack has let me out I can make him deal with the rest of them, it's a shame about Owen I suppose but Tosh can go without any hardship whatsoever and this time I won't make the mistake of leaving Ianto Jones alive. Once Jack is convinced that the bloody Teaboy is gone forever he can concentrate fully on us. _Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside of her cell and Gwen uncoiled from the bunk and moved to stand at the Plexiglas wall. She was unsurprised to see Ianto come around the corner carrying a tray.

'Where's Jack' sneered Gwen, 'sent you to do his dirty work has he? Not like Jack to send a boy to do a man's job.'

'Not in the least,' replied Ianto evenly, 'No decision has been made about you. The team have had other more important things to deal with since they put you down here, ' Ianto felt a swell of satisfaction as he saw the outrage and fury on Gwen's face, clearly she could not conceive of anything that was more important than she was. Ianto continued, ' it simply occurred to me that, what with one thing and another, you have been down here getting on for fourteen hours with nothing to eat or drink and that seemed unnecessarily cruel to me, so...' he held up the tray which held a plate of sandwiches, a thermos flask and two mugs and some water.

Gwen laughed, 'do you think I'm stupid? Like I'm going to eat or drink anything YOU give me' she threw at Ianto

Ianto raised an eyebrow and picked up a random sandwich from the plate, he held it up to the glass, 'where?' he asked simply

'From the centre' said Gwen immediately.

Ianto took a bite, chewed and swallowed. They stood looking at each other, in silence for five minutes before Gwen snarled, 'OK. No Recton in the food, give'

'Step back from the door' instructed Ianto, with a smirk Gwen moved to the back of the cell and ostentatiously put her hands behind her head as Ianto slid the plate into the cell. As soon as he had relocked the aperture she moved forward and snatched up the food

Is that coffee?' mumbled Gwen through a mouthful of cheese sandwich

Silently, Ianto unscrewed the thermos and the heavenly aroma of his coffee spread throughout the cell block. He poured some into one of the mugs and, eyes locked upon Gwen's, took a deep swallow. She watched him closely and as he appeared to show no ill effects nodded and moved voluntarily to the back of the cell ad Ianto filled the second mug to the brim and slid it into the cell.

Ianto leant back on the wall and sipped his coffee, 'you really are a psychotic bitch aren't you?' he said conversationally, 'how the fuck did Jack not see you for what you are, a selfish, egotistical, spoilt brat, who thinks the entire world and everyone in it exists to meet her every whim.'

Gwen snorted, 'I know what I want and I do what I have to do to get it.'

'Even if what you want belongs to someone else?' enquired Ianto icily

'A man like Jack Harkness could never in a million years "belong" to a pathetic little boy like you,' scoffed Gwen, 'he needs a real woman, a experienced lover, like me, to show him what he really needs and deserves.'

'And he really needs and deserves to be methodically drugged and raped over a number of months, does he?'

'Huh' Gwen shrugged, 'rape? He was shite in bed if you really want to know! After the first few times I felt like his head was a million miles away from our bed. But I had a strategy to deal with that, to help him raise his game in the bedroom'

'You fed him PUSH' stated Ianto bluntly.

Gwen frowned, 'how do you know about that?' she blurted then bit her lip.

'Oh, you forget, I know everything,' smiled Ianto, 'Jack was fighting you and your little drug even before he ran away from you. When we met up in London, Jack told me everything he could remember about PUSH and then I spent a very educational afternoon in the medical archive and now I know a lot more.'

'Yeah, like what?'

'I know that the amount of susceptibility to suggestion is directly linked to the amount of PUSH a person is administered. I know that the larger the dose the quicker the effect, I know that the half life of the drug is around 24 hours and I know that the taste is very bitter, making coffee the ideal transport mechanism.' He eyes drifted to the now empty mug that Gwen was clasping.

'What? No. You are lying. You drank the coffee too. The thermos was clean' stammered Gwen in confusion

Ianto laughed, 'you really are dense aren't you? The PUSH wasn't in the thermos, it was in the mug.'


	9. Chapter 9

Ianto smiled, it was a smile that no-one had seen for almost ten years. The first and the last person to see it had been Ianto's father as he lay dying of an agonizing heart attack and Ianto had leaned casually against the wall of the squalid kitchen of their so-called home, watching him and making no effort to call the emergency services. It was feral and cruel and looked so completely out of place on Ianto's soft boyish features that its effect was both terrifying and unsettling.

'I drank from my mug to reassure you that the coffee was clean,' explained Ianto, speaking slowly as if to an idiot, 'but the mug I gave to you had a very, very substantial dose of PUSH at the bottom of it.'

'I don't believe you' said Gwen, 'you haven't got the balls.'

'Really?' snapped Ianto, 'sit down and shut up and do it NOW!'

The furious look on Gwen's face as she sat back down on the bench and fell silent was evidence that her actions were not of her own choosing.

Ianto pulled a chair forward and settled himself down. The vicious smile was still on his usually pleasant face and the low lighting of the vaults turned it into a nightmarish mask. Gwen seemed mesmerised; her large eyes were fixed on the young man's.

'I'm not much of a talker' began Ianto, 'but I'm going to make an exception for you. I know how you, how all of the team, really, see me. As some kind of innocent who was corrupted by an older more experienced man. You all think I am so pathetic, a stupid boy in love with Jack Harkness, the man who couldn't spell commitment if you gave him the first eight letters; giving him my body just to get the luxury of his attention for a short time but you are so wrong. I'm not Jack's victim, or his plaything or his sex toy – I'm his rock, his strength and his purpose; I'm what makes him the amazing wonderful man that he is. He cajoled the Queen of England into expediting our marriage because he loves me and he needs me and he wanted to bind us together irrevocably as quickly as possible. At the moment he is virtually immobilised with terror not because he doesn't know what to do but because he does not want to risk losing me by dealing with you in the ways he knows you deserve. He knows you are a dangerous liability and he is frozen into inaction because he does not want to give you the power to make him the man he does not want to be, the man he does not want to be because the man he is...the man he wants to be...is the one who is mine and will stay mine forever.'

Gwen was puce, she was desperate to speak but the PUSH was preventing her from saying a word. Ianto favoured her with his feral grimace of a smile once more. He settled himself more comfortably into his chair and continued, 'now, the thing is, ' he said, in a confiding manner, ' is that whilst I help Jack to be the amazing man that he is, he does much more than that for me. He makes me visible for probably the first time in my entire adult life. People look at Jack and they see me because I'm the one who Jack is always looking at...and I don't mind if they wonder why he is with me, or what on earth he sees in me or if they think I'm just a place holder until someone better comes along, because they have to see me to think those things and after a life time of invisibility, that feels great.' A sneer of contempt crossed Gwen's face and Ianto laughed to see it.

'Having to remain silent is killing you isn't it?' he chuckled, 'well tough shit Cooper, it's my time to speak now and you have to stay quiet and listen.' He paused, 'where was I now? Oh yeah, so thanks to Jack I have a place in this world, friends who care about me and the love of the most incredible and beautiful man I have ever known, I have a life I can feel proud of and... I value that. I value it so much , more importantly, I understand that having a satisfying life, and especially being loved, comes with duties and responsibilities and that, I fear, is a simple truth that you never grasped. You did not take care of Rhys when you had him, and Rhys is a good man who deserves to be cared for and you did not look after Jack when you had the opportunity. That is why love will always be a disappointment to you because you never fulfil your part of the bargain.'

Gwen scowled, made a tremendous effort and stammered, 'f-f-f-f'

Ianto raised an offended eyebrow, 'I'm nearly through' he said, 'consequently I will ask you to bear with me just a little while longer. So part of my responsibility in loving and being loved by Jack is a willingness to spare him even the smallest amount of pain or distress, if it is within my power to do so. To make the decisions that he knows are the right decisions but that he really cannot bring himself to make, to do the things that he fears to do in case they change him irreversibly. Do you understand me? Do you know what I am talking about? You may speak'

'Me' ground out Gwen. 'you are talking about me'

Ianto nodded, 'yes, you' he confirmed.' Jack is upstairs, paralysed by fear. He knows he needs to deal with you if he and I are ever to have a peaceful moment again but his love for me, his need to maintain his self-integrity and, if I'm honest, I guess some infinitesimal remnant of the regard he once had for you are making him impotent.'

'Not a problem he ever had when he was with me' smiled Gwen, smugly.

Ianto rolled his eyes,' Let me spell it out for you. I want you out of our lives, Owen wants you dead, Tosh wants you to suffer and Jack doesn't want to be the one to deal with you. You have threatened my friends and my spouse and my happiness and I will not let that go, so I have decided that I will be the one to sort this mess out'

Gwen was clearly prepared to make the most of having permission to speak, 'you? You are weak, Jones, you hide behind Jack's bravado and you think that makes you brave too. Jack only kept you around because Torchwood is not the place for a puppy and he needed a pet. You are feeble and pathetic and frankly I don't think you have the guts to kill me.' He voice trailed away as Ianto got that predatory, evil smile on his face once more.

'Oh, I'm not going to kill you, Gwen. That would be guaranteed to destroy Jack because he would think that forcing me to take that action equates to him letting me down, the guilt could easily annihilate him and I will not allow that to happen. No,' he fumbled in his jeans pocket and pulled out a small bottle of tablets, 'you are going to kill yourself.' Gwen opened her mouth to protest but before she could say a word a Ianto barked, 'SILENCE!' Gwen subsided and Ianto carried on, 'listen to me very carefully Gwen. This is what you are going to do. I am going to give you this bottle of tablets which you are going to hide somewhere on your body, I am going to give you this bottle of water and then leave you alone. You will lie back down on the bunk as if you were asleep and count to 3,000 silently and slowly. When you get to 3,000 you will sit up, extract the tablets from their hiding place and take the entire bottle washing them down with the water. Repeat your instructions back to me'

In a monotone but with a face like thunder and with eyes full of hatred Gwen intoned, 'hide the tablets, lie down, count to 3,000, take all of the tablets in the bottle with the water you have given me.'

'Good' Ianto nodded, he wiped the bottle of pills with his handkerchief and handed it, with the water, to Gwen ensuring that his fingers did not touch the glass of the pill bottle and turned to go; he hesitated and turned back to face the woman who had systematically tormented and undermined him for years, tried to end his precious relationship and who had abused the man he loved, 'Owen thinks we should kill you and when you take these tablets, you will die but Tosh thinks you should suffer as well. I told you I spent a productive afternoon in the medical archive and that's where I found these tablets – compound KDI/668 – once absorbed they will gradually acidify your blood, dissolving your circulatory system and your vital organs over the space of about 5 hours. The records suggest that it is an excruciatingly painful way to die. This is an elegant solution, no? Everyone gets their wish. You suffer, you die, I never have to worry about you again and Jack has absolutely nothing to do with it'

He looked at his nemesis for the last time, 'Good bye Gwen, I expect to have a long and happy life with Jack, think about that as you die horribly.' And he walked away without a backward glance turning out the lights as he did so.

* * *

The next day Jack woke up with a hideously dry mouth and a long lithe Welshman asleep in his arms. He tried to clear his throat and croaked 'hey, beautiful'

Ianto stirred and kissed whatever part of Jack was closest to his mouth, 'hey. How are you this morning?'

'Thirsty, got a weird taste of bubble gum in my mouth '

Ianto leant across Jacks body, causing his husband to groan as most of his bodily fluids headed to his cock, then sat up with a chilled bottle of water in his hand which he balanced on Jack's stomach making him sit up with a small squeak of discontent

'Sorry, Jack' smirked Ianto

Jack let his head fall back with a thump as it hit the headboard, 'Oh gods! I remember now. I got a face full of party gas. Was I very bad, Yan?'

'No Cariad' Ianto pulled Jack's head onto his shoulder and stroked his hair gently, 'you were very loving and sweet'

'Oh no' Jack buried his head into Ianto's neck.

Ianto chuckled, 'Owen gave you a little something to help you sleep and he took Tosh home to look after her. I stayed with you all night because you insisted, and I quote, "that you can't sleep without your Yanni Wanni" I love you Jack, you know I do but if you ever call me Yanni Wanni again I will kill you'

'I'd help you' Jack lifted his face up to Ianto's giving him a look of faux-penitence, 'what can I do to make it up to you?'

Ianto laughed and rolled them so that Jack was beneath him, 'oh, there's quite a list.'

* * *

An hour later a subdued and embarrassed Tosh and a well shagged looking Owen arrived in the Hub bearing breakfast. Ianto was in the kitchen making coffee for everyone and fending off Jack who still seemed to have a little of the alien party relaxant in his system and could keep his hands to himself even less than usual

'Alright, Tosh?' called Jack across the Hub, laughing as Tosh blushed and gave him a quick nod of the head, keeping her head down. She hurried to her work station to make her review of the previous 24 hours CCTV footage, as she had every morning, since that strange incident when the team had lost two days worth of memories.

Ianto was laughing having just smacked Jack's hand away from his flies for the third time and Owen was moaning that such behaviour was likely put him off his breakfast and if he wanted to see a man being groped he would just have stayed at home with Tosh when Tosh's voice echoed around the Hub

'Oh fuck!'

The three men looked at each other, Toshiko was not generally given to profanity and that particular expletive was one none of them had ever heard her use. Jack ran to her work station

'Tosh?'

Tosh pointed at the screen, it showed an apparently peacefully sleeping Gwen Cooper stir, sit up and produce what looked like a bottle of tablets from inside her bra. Jack frowned, 'You didn't search her before you locked her up, Owen?' he enquired tersely.

Owen gave a theatrical shudder, 'not in there, no'

On the screen Gwen was swallowing the entire contents of the bottle and washing them down with some water.

'Where did she get water from?' asked Jack

'Me' said Ianto, 'I took her some food down around 1 a.m.; just sandwiches and coffee. I left her the water. I didn't check on her again because I wanted to make sure that Jack was alright and also...well... because I didn't want to.'

'Can't blame you for that' muttered Owen

Jack closed his eyes, 'when was this' he said gesturing to the screen which showed Gwen convulsing on the cell floor and screaming in anguish as blood poured from her eyes, nose and ears.

'Time stamp is 2 a.m' said Tosh

'Eight hours' said Owen as he moved toward the vaults, 'this is not gonna be pretty.' Reluctantly, it seemed to Ianto, Jack followed him. Tosh and Ianto stared at the screen in silence

* * *

A short while later, Jack and Owen emerged from the vaults carrying Gwen's body carefully between them.

We'll take her straight down to autopsy,' panted Owen.

'Treat the body as a biohazard' warned Jack, ' this stuff she's taken, compound KDI/668 will render her body fluids very acidic and highly toxic.'

Owen frowned as they lowered the corpse onto the autopsy table, 'That sounds an incredibly painful way to kill yourself.'

Ianto spoke up from viewing platform, 'I believe that compound KDI/668 was developed in the planet Shubbaroth to execute only the most wicked and dangerous of criminals. The average length of time that it took to finally kill someone that it was administered to was around 5 hours. Contemporary records and eye witness accounts suggest that the agonies of the victim were dreadful to behold and served as a deterrent to others.'

Jack was looking a little but lost and dazed, 'why would she use this?' he asked, 'even this benighted planet can supply easier, softer ways to kill yourself.'

Ianto have a quiet cough, 'she was not expecting to be confronted and locked up but she had planned dinner for the three of you,' he said slowly, 'May be she had stolen the drug to use on...other people?'

'You think she was planning to poison Owen and Tosh?' said Jack unbelievingly

'She was confident that she could control you with PUSH, she knew, or thought she knew, that she had you under her thumb. She also liked to believe that all she had to do was click her fingers to have Owen back in her bed and she had nothing but contempt for Tosh. Then you, Jack, try to fight her drug control, and Owen and Tosh have the temerity to fall in love with each other and get engaged. She was deranged and ego-centric to a bizarre degree – does it seem so farfetched?'

'Put that way' mused Jack, 'probably not'

'So that's it' asked Owen, sharply 'no need for us to agonise over what we should do with her. No debate about execution or imprisonment, no angst, no guilt. She's all neatly tidied away, just like that.'

'Sometimes,' said Ianto, as he moved into the well of the autopsy bay to wrap his arms around Jack, kissing him gently on the back of his neck, 'the universe works in mysterious ways.'

* * *

A couple of hours later, Jack was ensconced in his office with the door firmly closed brooding and Ianto was cleaning the kitchen. So intensely was he focused on cleaning the microwave he didn't hear Owen and Tosh come in, until Owen cleared his throat.

'You do know that you don't work here anymore, don't you?'

Ianto huffed a small laugh, 'that's painfully obvious' he said, 'you people are pigs.'

Tosh reached over and gently took hold of Ianto's wrist, forcing him to stop what he was doing.

'What did you do?' she said

Ianto took a step backwards, 'what?'

Tosh looked at Owen who shrugged, 'I've finished the preliminary tests on Cooper' he said, 'that stuff is really unpleasant and corrosive but I managed to get enough blood to run a modified analysis on.'

Ianto turned his attention to an unidentified and recalcitrant stain on the work top, 'so?'

'So' continued Owen, 'I don't understand how, when she died, Cooper had a massive amount of PUSH in her system. I took her supply away when Tosh zapped her.'

'And then there's the CCTV feed' added Tosh

'Ianto, face impassive, raised a sceptical eyebrow but remained silent

'Oh you are good, Ianto Jones but you aren't as good as me' said Tosh, smugly. 'There are a couple of places on the feedback where the image stutters almost imperceptibly; it takes a real expert to spot it. This feed has been tampered with and you were the only one here last night with the skills to do it. So, we'll ask you again – what did you do?'

Ianto looked Toshiko and Owen straight in the eye, 'what was necessary to protect Jack' he said firmly, 'and, Tosh? Owen? No-one else ever needs to know, do I make myself clear?'

Owen nodded, 'crystal' he said emphatically

'You love him very much, don't you' said Tosh softly

'More than life itself,' whispered Ianto.


	10. Chapter 10

**Epilogue – 9 months later**

In a penthouse apartment, close to Mermaid Quay, two post-coital exhausted and naked men sprawled on a soft rug close to a stupendously decorated Christmas tree. Glen Miller was playing softly on the sound system and Ianto, wearing nothing but a circlet of sparkly red tinsel in his dark hair was carefully wrapping a length of golden tinsel around Jack's penis occasionally stopping to gently suck the end making his spouse shudder with pleasure.

'You're right' panted Jack, pushing up on his elbows to lick one of Ianto's nipples, ' it **IS** fun decorating the tree'

Ianto chuckled and turned away to select a bauble to complete his decorating of Jack's genitalia, only to be distracted by his mobile.

'Oh' Jack lay back down and made an abortive attempt to grab Ianto as he crawled to the end table of the sofa to answer his phone, 'leave it. We are off until the 27th I don't care if the universe is ending. This is our time. Ianto, please don't answer it, ple...'

'Hello, Ianto Jones'

Jack let out a loud howl of displeasure, rolled over and began to try to wrestle the phone out of Ianto's hands, making him laugh

'Hi Tosh...no it's Jack...he's being Jack.' Jack pouted and stuck his tongue into Ianto's ear making him squeak, ' make that very Jack' He waved his free hand emphatically trying to get Jack to behave as he listened intently a broad smile spreading slowly across his face.

'Tosh that is brilliant. When'

'...'

'Well it was an amazing night. How's Owen taking this?'

'...'

Ianto laughed, 'Tell him congratulations from us. We'll see you both on Boxing Day, yeah? I'm gonna tell Jack. Take care...mummy.'

Jack froze at Ianto's last words, 'Tosh...is she'

'Yep' Ianto's grin as getting bigger by the second, 'she's pregnant, about six weeks Owen thinks – we're gonna have a Torchwood baby, how brilliant is that?'

'Six weeks' mused Jack, 'that would be...?'

'Rhys' wedding' agreed Ianto.

Jack's eyes glazed over, 'that was a fantastic day, very...inspiring'

Ianto thought back to the innovative and inventive sex he and Jack had shared after attending Rhys Williams wedding. After being unceremoniously dumped by Gwen as she pursued Jack, Rhys had been depressed for some months until he had bumped into his first girlfriend, Delyth who had just escaped from an abusive relationship. The two wounded people had somehow found a way to heal each other and had fallen in love on the way. Their wedding had been sweet and romantic and had made every other couple there appreciate their relationship more than ever.

_Obviously_ thought Jack, _Yan and I weren't the only one's having incredible sex that night. Huh, if Gwen hadn't dumped Rhys so cruelly... _

'Jack?'Jack was looking pensive; 'Jack' Ianto ran a finger down Jack's back to grab his attention, 'everything OK?'

'Yeah' Jack sighed, 'I was just thinking about Gwen.'

The smile disappeared from Ianto's face as if wiped off by a cloth, 'were you' he asked coldly as he began to remove the tinsel from his hair and look around for his tee-shirt.

'Yan?' Jack sat up and looked worriedly at his husband, 'what's wrong?'

Ianto turned round 'Fucking Gwen Cooper' he said fiercely, 'she is never going to be out of our lives is she? After everything she put us through and everything she did to you, after what we had to suffer before we found each other again, she's STILL in your head?' he shoulders slumped despondently, 'I'm never going to be enough am I? Even dead, she's between us. Is this how it's going to be? Every time something good happens to us, you will be thinking about Gwen bitch face Cooper.' He turned to look at Jack who was sitting on the floor, legs spread looking as serious as a man with tinsel wrapped around his penis can look, Ianto had to bite his lip to stop the smile that was threatening to crawl across his face, he wanted to let Jack knew how angry and hurt he was but sometimes the man was just too adorable to be true 'Jack, you are the only one for me, you always have been, you always will be but if that's not true for you then where are we?

Jack scrambled to his feet, pulled Ianto into his arms and collapsed them both onto the sofa in a closely entangled embrace

'I wasn't thinking about her like that,' he said reassuringly, 'I thinking about what you said the day we found out that she had killed herself, about the universe moving in mysterious ways. If she had not been so desperate to split us up, you and I may have danced around a proper relationship forever, if she hadn't been such a vile person you would not be here in my arms now, Rhys would not be ecstatically happy with Delyth and Tosh and Owen wouldn't be about to be parents. So many wonderful things from one twisted evil individual.'

"I suppose' said Ianto grudgingly.

Jack pulled him close, 'We have each other for as long as you live' he whispered, 'being without you when I was under Cooper's influence was hateful, finding you again was like a miracle and the terror of losing you again gave me the courage to act and make you mine.' _I have to let him know that I know and that I love him for it_ he thought to himself. Jack pulled back a little so that he could look deep into Ianto's eyes and spoke in a voice deepened by his increased sincerity, 'I understand how much courage it takes to love someone so much that you make a choice, take a leap into an action, that has the potential to change you forever, simply because that one person matters to you more than life itself.'

Ianto's heart stuttered, _what is he talking about? _he thought in a panic, _oh God, he knows, he knows I was the one that killed Gwen. _He took a deep breath, 'Jack…' he began but Jack was still talking.

'The thing about that sort of bravery,' he was saying, carefully, 'is that you can keep it in your heart as a secret eternally and be confident that if the other person ever works out what you did for them, they will only love you more for being the incredibly wonderful caring person that you are.'

Ianto was not sure which of them moved first, maybe they both did, it didn't really matter; all he knew was that of all the amazing kisses he had shared with Jack Harkness, the one that finally made him forever believe that he was the centre of Jack's world, the one that permanently exorcised Gwen Cooper from their lives was the one that would be one of his brightest and most cherished memories for the whole of his life until the day that he died


End file.
